Network system for content playback on multiple devices

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein provide a network system to enable content playback on multiple devices. An electronic device can receive information associated with media playback request and resolve a media item and intended playback device for the media request based on a set of available media items and player devices. The device can then transmit, via the data interface, a request to play the media item at the player device via a secure device to device communication system.

CROSS-REFERENCE

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/795,492, “NETWORK SYSTEM FOR CONTENT PLAYBACK ON MULTIPLEDEVICES,” filed Jan. 22, 2019, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

This application relates generally to a network system and frameworkthat enables an intelligent automated assistant to perform contentplayback on multiple devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Intelligent automated assistants, or digital assistants, can provide abeneficial interface between human users and electronic devices. Digitalassistants may be invoked in order to perform various user requests,such as facilitating media playback. However, conventional digitalassistants are not well integrated into systems having multiple userdevices capable of playing media, such as home entertainment systems.For instance, a user may wish to play specific media content on aspecific device, although the user's speech request may be provided at adevice which is different than the intended playback device.Conventional digital assistants may not be well equipped to handle theserequests. Such problems are magnified when more complex or ambiguousrequests are issued by a user. For example, a user may wish to transferplayback of currently playing media from a first device to a seconddevice, such as from mobile phone to a television. Additionally, theuser may ambiguously refer to content and devices using references suchas “this” or “that,” resulting in failed attempts to play the desiredcontent. Ultimately, these problems create a poor user experience.Accordingly, an improved system for content playback on multiple devicesis desired.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods to enable a network system that facilitates contentplayback on multiple devices via an intelligent automated assistant.

One embodiment provides for an electronic device, comprising a datainterface, a memory to store instructions, and one or more processors toexecute the instructions, wherein the instructions cause the one or moreprocessors to receive information associated with media playback,receive a request for playback of a media item, resolve a media item andplayer device for the request based on a set of available media itemsand player devices, and transmit, via the data interface, a request toplay the media item at the player device. Resolving the media item andplayer device can include determining a network location for a devicestoring the media items, a streamable status of the media items (e.g.,from a local device or cloud streaming service), and resolving a networklocation for the player device based on an identifier or physicallocation associated with the player device.

One embodiment provides for a method comprising, at an electronic devicewith one or more processors and memory, receiving information associatedwith media playback, receiving a request for playback of a media item,resolving a media item and player device for the request based on a setof available media items and player devices, and transmitting, via adata interface, a request to play the media item at the player device.

One embodiment provides for a non-transitory machine-readable mediumstoring instructions to cause one or more processors of an electronicdevice to perform operations comprising detecting a player device via adata interface of the electronic device, the player device detected on anetwork accessible to the electronic device, automatically attempting toconnect with the player device upon detection of the player device, andexchanging data with the player device, wherein data exchanged with theplayer device includes a first list of media items accessible to theelectronic device and a second list of media items accessible to theplayer device. The player device can then be added to a set of availableplayer devices on the network. Upon subsequent receipt of a request forplayback of a media item, the instructions can cause the electronicdevice to resolve a media item for the request based on the first listof media items and the second list of media item. The electronic devicecan resolve a player device for use in playback of the media item forthe request based on the set of available player devices on the network,such as, for example, the rendering capabilities (e.g., audio, video,etc.) of the available player devices. The electronic device can thentransmit, via a data interface, a request to play the media item at aresolved player device.

Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description, which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system and environment forimplementing a digital assistant, according to various examples.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction deviceimplementing the client-side portion of a digital assistant, accordingto various examples.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling, according to various examples.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device implementing theclient-side portion of a digital assistant, according to variousexamples.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface, according to various examples.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device, according to variousexamples.

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunctiondevice with a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display,according to various examples.

FIG. 6A illustrates a personal electronic device, according to variousexamples.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device,according to various examples.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a digital assistant system or aserver portion thereof, according to various examples.

FIG. 7B illustrates the functions of the digital assistant shown in FIG.7A, according to various examples.

FIG. 7C illustrates a portion of an ontology, according to variousexamples.

FIG. 8A-8G illustrate a system for content playback on multiple devices,according to various examples.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process for displaying user interfaces for contentplayback on multiple devices, according to various examples.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process for displaying user interfaces for contentplayback on multiple devices, according to various examples.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process for displaying user interfaces for contentplayback on multiple devices, according to various examples.

FIG. 12 illustrates a process for displaying user interfaces for contentplayback on multiple devices, according to various examples.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process for content playback on multiple devices,according to various examples.

FIG. 14 illustrates a process for content playback on multiple devices,according to various examples.

FIG. 15 illustrates a system that enables communication between deviceswithin a digital assistant system.

FIG. 16 illustrates a home network environment including multiple smarthome devices, according to embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of operations of a discovery process used todiscover and pair electronic devices, according to embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 18 illustrates a process for an electronic device to establish acompanion link connection with a paired device, according to embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 19 illustrates process at a network framework for content playbackon multiple devices, according to embodiments.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a computing device for use in distributedmedia playback, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating an API architecture, which maybe used in some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 22A-22B are block diagrams of exemplary API software stacks,according to embodiments.

FIG. 23 illustrates an API for content playback on multiple devices,according to embodiments.

FIG. 24 illustrates an API initiate streaming of content betweenmultiple devices, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 25 illustrates logic to select between streaming and directplayback, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 26 illustrates logic to enable the download of software tofacilitate playback of a requested media item, according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of examples, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings in which are shown by way of illustration specificexamples that can be practiced. It is to be understood that otherexamples can be used, and structural changes can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the various examples.

Conventional techniques for media playback on multiple devices lackeffectiveness. For instance, conventional systems are unable toefficiently handle requests to transfer playback of media content from afirst device to a second device, based on natural language input. Forexample, a user may provide natural language input to a device, such as“Play this on that,” where “this” may refer to media content currentlyplaying on a first device (e.g., a mobile phone) and “that” may refer toa secondary user device that user wishes to transfer playback to.Conventional systems may be unable to determine user intent associatedwith such a request, much less perform the requisite steps to achievemedia playback on the secondary device.

In accordance with some systems, computer-readable media, and processesdescribed herein, media playback is improved by providing a contentplayback method on multiple user devices. In one example process,information associated with media playback is received from one or moreuser devices. For example, one or more user devices, such as atelevision set top box or a home speaker system, may send information toa first user device, such as a mobile phone. A speech request for amedia item is then received at the first user device. At least thespeech request and the information associated with media playback maythen be transmitted to a second electronic device, such as a digitalassistant server. The user device may then receive, based on at leastthe speech request and the information associated with media playback,an instruction for media playback on a secondary user device, such as atelevision set top box. At least one task is then performed based on theinstruction for media playback, such as playing media content at thesecondary user device.

By performing the task based on the received instruction for mediaplayback, the system improves task execution, and specifically withrespect to systems for media playback on multiple devices. For example,the system enhances the knowledge used for intent determination, deviceselection, and media identification by performing an initial procedureof receiving the information associated with media playback. Forinstance, a plurality of media devices (e.g., devices within the user'shome, devices the user has previously interacted with, etc.) maytransmit information associated with media playback to a user device,such as a mobile phone or a voice enabled speaker, for example. Theinformation associated with media playback may include, for example, anyinformation to assist the system with intent determination and mediaplayback, such as information related to media ownership, playbackcapabilities, user interaction history, installed applications, and thelike. In turn, the system improves natural language processing and taskexecution, and specifically in the context of content playback onmultiple devices. For example, conventional systems typically struggleto determine user intent or identify media that a user is targeting,resulting in inaccurate results and repetitive interactions with a user.The system described herein not only addresses these problems, butprovides platform to facilitate task execution for media playback onmultiple devices. For example, a user may provide an ambiguous requestto play “this” media on “that” device.” The system described herein isequipped to efficiently identify both the media and device the user istargeting, thus providing a seamless user experience.

Although the following description uses terms “first,” “second,” etc. todescribe various elements, these elements should not be limited by theterms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element fromanother. For example, a first input could be termed a second input, and,similarly, a second input could be termed a first input, withoutdeparting from the scope of the various described examples. The firstinput and the second input are both inputs and, in some cases, areseparate and different inputs.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedexamples herein is for the purpose of describing particular examplesonly and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description ofthe various described examples and the appended claims, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms aswell, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also beunderstood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to andencompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms“includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used inthis specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in responseto determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context.Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated conditionor event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or“in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition orevent]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],”depending on the context.

System and Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of system 100 according to variousexamples. In some examples, system 100 implements a digital assistant.The terms “digital assistant,” “virtual assistant,” “intelligentautomated assistant,” or “automatic digital assistant” refer to anyinformation processing system that interprets natural language input inspoken and/or textual form to infer user intent, and performs actionsbased on the inferred user intent. For example, to act on an inferreduser intent, the system performs one or more of the following:identifying a task flow with steps and parameters designed to accomplishthe inferred user intent, inputting specific requirements from theinferred user intent into the task flow; executing the task flow byinvoking programs, methods, services, APIs, or the like; and generatingoutput responses to the user in an audible (e.g., speech) and/or visualform.

Specifically, a digital assistant is capable of accepting a user requestat least partially in the form of a natural language command, request,statement, narrative, and/or inquiry. Typically, the user request seekseither an informational answer or performance of a task by the digitalassistant. A satisfactory response to the user request includes aprovision of the requested informational answer, a performance of therequested task, or a combination of the two. For example, a user asksthe digital assistant a question, such as “Where am I right now?” Basedon the user's current location, the digital assistant answers, “You arein Central Park near the west gate.” The user also requests theperformance of a task, for example, “Please invite my friends to mygirlfriend's birthday party next week.” In response, the digitalassistant can acknowledge the request by saying “Yes, right away,” andthen send a suitable calendar invite on behalf of the user to each ofthe user's friends listed in the user's electronic address book. Duringperformance of a requested task, the digital assistant sometimesinteracts with the user in a continuous dialogue involving multipleexchanges of information over an extended period of time. There arenumerous other ways of interacting with a digital assistant to requestinformation or performance of various tasks. In addition to providingverbal responses and taking programmed actions, the digital assistantalso provides responses in other visual or audio forms, e.g., as text,alerts, music, videos, animations, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1, in some examples, a digital assistant is implementedaccording to a client-server model. The digital assistant includesclient-side portion 102 (hereafter “DA client 102”) executed on userdevice 104 and server-side portion 106 (hereafter “DA server 106”)executed on server system 108. DA client 102 communicates with DA server106 through one or more networks 110. DA client 102 provides client-sidefunctionalities such as user-facing input and output processing andcommunication with DA server 106. DA server 106 provides server-sidefunctionalities for any number of DA clients 102 each residing on arespective user device 104.

In some examples, DA server 106 includes client-facing I/O interface112, one or more processing modules 114, data and models 116, and I/Ointerface to external services 118. The client-facing I/O interface 112facilitates the client-facing input and output processing for DA server106. One or more processing modules 114 utilize data and models 116 toprocess speech input and determine the user's intent based on naturallanguage input. Further, one or more processing modules 114 perform taskexecution based on inferred user intent. In some examples, DA server 106communicates with external services 120 through network(s) 110 for taskcompletion or information acquisition. I/O interface to externalservices 118 facilitates such communications.

User device 104 can be any suitable electronic device. In some examples,user device 104 is a portable multifunctional device (e.g., device 200,described below with reference to FIG. 2A), a multifunctional device(e.g., device 400, described below with reference to FIG. 4), or apersonal electronic device (e.g., device 600, described below withreference to FIG. 6A-B.) A portable multifunctional device is, forexample, a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such asPDA and/or music player functions. Specific examples of portablemultifunction devices include the Apple Watch®, iPhone®, iPod Touch®,and iPad® devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other examples ofportable multifunction devices include, without limitation,earphones/headphones, speakers, and laptop or tablet computers. Further,in some examples, user device 104 is a non-portable multifunctionaldevice. In particular, user device 104 is a desktop computer, a gameconsole, a speaker, a television, or a television set-top box. In someexamples, user device 104 includes a touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,touch screen displays and/or touchpads). Further, user device 104optionally includes one or more other physical user-interface devices,such as a physical keyboard, a mouse, and/or a joystick. Variousexamples of electronic devices, such as multifunctional devices, aredescribed below in greater detail.

Examples of communication network(s) 110 include local area networks(LAN) and wide area networks (WAN), e.g., the Internet. Communicationnetwork(s) 110 is implemented using any known network protocol,including various wired or wireless protocols, such as, for example,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), codedivision multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or anyother suitable communication protocol.

Server system 108 is implemented on one or more standalone dataprocessing apparatus or a distributed network of computers. In someexamples, server system 108 also employs various virtual devices and/orservices of third-party service providers (e.g., third-party cloudservice providers) to provide the underlying computing resources and/orinfrastructure resources of server system 108.

In some examples, user device 104 communicates with DA server 106 viasecond user device 122. Second user device 122 is similar or identicalto user device 104. For example, second user device 122 is similar todevices 200, 400, or 600 described below with reference to FIGS. 2A, 4,and 6A-B. User device 104 is configured to communicatively couple tosecond user device 122 via a direct communication connection, such asBluetooth, NFC, BTLE, or the like, or via a wired or wireless network,such as a local Wi-Fi network. In some examples, second user device 122is configured to act as a proxy between user device 104 and DA server106. For example, DA client 102 of user device 104 is configured totransmit information (e.g., a user request received at user device 104)to DA server 106 via second user device 122. DA server 106 processes theinformation and returns relevant data (e.g., data content responsive tothe user request) to user device 104 via second user device 122.

In some examples, user device 104 is configured to communicateabbreviated requests for data to second user device 122 to reduce theamount of information transmitted from user device 104. Second userdevice 122 is configured to determine supplemental information to add tothe abbreviated request to generate a complete request to transmit to DAserver 106. This system architecture can advantageously allow userdevice 104 having limited communication capabilities and/or limitedbattery power (e.g., a watch or a similar compact electronic device) toaccess services provided by DA server 106 by using second user device122, having greater communication capabilities and/or battery power(e.g., a mobile phone, laptop computer, tablet computer, or the like),as a proxy to DA server 106. While only two user devices 104 and 122 areshown in FIG. 1, it should be appreciated that system 100, in someexamples, includes any number and type of user devices configured inthis proxy configuration to communicate with DA server system 106.

Although the digital assistant shown in FIG. 1 includes both aclient-side portion (e.g., DA client 102) and a server-side portion(e.g., DA server 106), in some examples, the functions of a digitalassistant are implemented as a standalone application installed on auser device. In addition, the divisions of functionalities between theclient and server portions of the digital assistant can vary indifferent implementations. For instance, in some examples, the DA clientis a thin-client that provides only user-facing input and outputprocessing functions, and delegates all other functionalities of thedigital assistant to a backend server.

Electronic Devices

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of electronic devices forimplementing the client-side portion of a digital assistant. FIG. 2A isa block diagram illustrating portable multifunction device 200 withtouch-sensitive display system 212 in accordance with some embodiments.Touch-sensitive display 212 is sometimes called a “touch screen” forconvenience and is sometimes known as or called a “touch-sensitivedisplay system.” Device 200 includes memory 202 (which optionallyincludes one or more computer-readable storage mediums), memorycontroller 222, one or more processing units (CPUs) 220, peripheralsinterface 218, RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, input/output (I/O) subsystem 206, other input controldevices 216, and external port 224. Device 200 optionally includes oneor more optical sensors 264. Device 200 optionally includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 265 for detecting intensity of contacts ondevice 200 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitivedisplay system 212 of device 200). Device 200 optionally includes one ormore tactile output generators 267 for generating tactile outputs ondevice 200 (e.g., generating tactile outputs on a touch-sensitivesurface such as touch-sensitive display system 212 of device 200 ortouchpad 455 of device 400). These components optionally communicateover one or more communication buses or signal lines 203.

As used in the specification and claims, the term “intensity” of acontact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure(force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on thetouch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (proxy) for the force orpressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of acontact has a range of values that includes at least four distinctvalues and more typically includes hundreds of distinct values (e.g., atleast 256). Intensity of a contact is, optionally, determined (ormeasured) using various approaches and various sensors or combinationsof sensors. For example, one or more force sensors underneath oradjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are, optionally, used to measureforce at various points on the touch-sensitive surface. In someimplementations, force measurements from multiple force sensors arecombined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine an estimated force of acontact. Similarly, a pressure-sensitive tip of a stylus is, optionally,used to determine a pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitivesurface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on thetouch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of thetouch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto,and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to thecontact and/or changes thereto are, optionally, used as a substitute forthe force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. Insome implementations, the substitute measurements for contact force orpressure are used directly to determine whether an intensity thresholdhas been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in unitscorresponding to the substitute measurements). In some implementations,the substitute measurements for contact force or pressure are convertedto an estimated force or pressure, and the estimated force or pressureis used to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded(e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in unitsof pressure). Using the intensity of a contact as an attribute of a userinput allows for user access to additional device functionality that mayotherwise not be accessible by the user on a reduced-size device withlimited real estate for displaying affordances (e.g., on atouch-sensitive display) and/or receiving user input (e.g., via atouch-sensitive display, a touch-sensitive surface, or aphysical/mechanical control such as a knob or a button).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “tactile output”refers to physical displacement of a device relative to a previousposition of the device, physical displacement of a component (e.g., atouch-sensitive surface) of a device relative to another component(e.g., housing) of the device, or displacement of the component relativeto a center of mass of the device that will be detected by a user withthe user's sense of touch. For example, in situations where the deviceor the component of the device is in contact with a surface of a userthat is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other part of auser's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacementwill be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation corresponding toa perceived change in physical characteristics of the device or thecomponent of the device. For example, movement of a touch-sensitivesurface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is, optionally,interpreted by the user as a “down click” or “up click” of a physicalactuator button. In some cases, a user will feel a tactile sensationsuch as an “down click” or “up click” even when there is no movement ofa physical actuator button associated with the touch-sensitive surfacethat is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movements. Asanother example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface is, optionally,interpreted or sensed by the user as “roughness” of the touch-sensitivesurface, even when there is no change in smoothness of thetouch-sensitive surface. While such interpretations of touch by a userwill be subject to the individualized sensory perceptions of the user,there are many sensory perceptions of touch that are common to a largemajority of users. Thus, when a tactile output is described ascorresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., an “upclick,” a “down click,” “roughness”), unless otherwise stated, thegenerated tactile output corresponds to physical displacement of thedevice or a component thereof that will generate the described sensoryperception for a typical (or average) user.

It should be appreciated that device 200 is only one example of aportable multifunction device, and that device 200 optionally has moreor fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or morecomponents, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangementof the components. The various components shown in FIG. 2A areimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware andsoftware, including one or more signal processing and/orapplication-specific integrated circuits.

Memory 202 includes one or more computer-readable storage mediums. Thecomputer-readable storage mediums are, for example, tangible andnon-transitory. Memory 202 includes high-speed random-access memory andalso includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic diskstorage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-statememory devices. Memory controller 222 controls access to memory 202 byother components of device 200.

In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofmemory 202 is used to store instructions (e.g., for performing aspectsof processes described below) for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In other examples,the instructions (e.g., for performing aspects of the processesdescribed below) are stored on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium (not shown) of the server system 108 or are dividedbetween the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of memory202 and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of serversystem 108.

Peripherals interface 218 is used to couple input and output peripheralsof the device to CPU 220 and memory 202. The one or more processors 220run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructionsstored in memory 202 to perform various functions for device 200 and toprocess data. In some embodiments, peripherals interface 218, CPU 220,and memory controller 222 are implemented on a single chip, such as chip204. In some other embodiments, they are implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 208 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 optionally includes well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 208 optionally communicates with networks, such as theInternet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranetand/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, awireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network(MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The RF circuitry 208optionally includes well-known circuitry for detecting near fieldcommunication (NFC) fields, such as by a short-range communicationradio. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality ofcommunications standards, protocols, and technologies, including but notlimited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced DataGSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA),high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), Evolution, Data-Only (EV-DO),HSPA, HSPA+, Dual-Cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), long term evolution (LTE), nearfield communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n,and/or IEEE 802.11ac), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, aprotocol for e mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP)and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensiblemessaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol forInstant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), InstantMessaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service(SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, includingcommunication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of thisdocument.

Audio circuitry 210, speaker 211, and microphone 213 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 200. Audio circuitry 210 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 218, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 211.Speaker 211 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 210 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 213 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 210 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 218 for processing. Audio data are retrieved fromand/or transmitted to memory 202 and/or RF circuitry 208 by peripheralsinterface 218. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 210 also includes aheadset jack (e.g., 312, FIG. 3). The headset jack provides an interfacebetween audio circuitry 210 and removable audio input/outputperipherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with bothoutput (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., amicrophone).

I/O subsystem 206 couples input/output peripherals on device 200, suchas touch screen 212 and other input control devices 216, to peripheralsinterface 218. I/O subsystem 206 optionally includes display controller256, optical sensor controller 258, intensity sensor controller 259,haptic feedback controller 261, and one or more input controllers 260for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers260 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input control devices216. The other input control devices 216 optionally include physicalbuttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, sliderswitches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternateembodiments, input controller(s) 260 are, optionally, coupled to any (ornone) of the following: a keyboard, an infrared port, a USB port, and apointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 308, FIG.3) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of speaker211 and/or microphone 213. The one or more buttons optionally include apush button (e.g., 306, FIG. 3).

A quick press of the push button disengages a lock of touch screen 212or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock thedevice, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549,“Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filedDec. 23, 2005, U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,849, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 306)turns power to device 200 on or off. The user is able to customize afunctionality of one or more of the buttons. Touch screen 212 is used toimplement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

Touch-sensitive display 212 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 256 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 212. Touch screen212 displays visual output to the user. The visual output includesgraphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectivelytermed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visualoutput correspond to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 212 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or set ofsensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactilecontact. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 (along with anyassociated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 202) detectcontact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen212 and convert the detected contact into interaction withuser-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages,or images) that are displayed on touch screen 212. In an exemplaryembodiment, a point of contact between touch screen 212 and the usercorresponds to a finger of the user.

Touch screen 212 uses LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD(light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emittingdiode) technology, although other display technologies may be used inother embodiments. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 detectcontact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality oftouch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including butnot limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acousticwave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or otherelements for determining one or more points of contact with touch screen212. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensingtechnology is used, such as that found in the iPhone® and iPod Touch®from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 212 isanalogous to the multi-touch sensitive touchpads described in thefollowing U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), U.S. Pat. No.6,570,557 (Westerman et al.), and/or U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,932(Westerman), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However,touch screen 212 displays visual output from device 200, whereastouch-sensitive touchpads do not provide visual output.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 212 is asdescribed in the following applications: (1) U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,” filed May 2,2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “MultipointTouchscreen,” filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jul. 30,2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,264, “Gestures ForTouch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 31, 2005; (5) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical User InterfacesFor Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,758, “Virtual Input Device Placement On ATouch Screen User Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (7) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation Of A Computer With A TouchScreen Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (8) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen VirtualKeyboard,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. Allof these applications are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

Touch screen 212 has, for example, a video resolution in excess of 100dpi. In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user makes contact with touch screen 212using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, andso forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to workprimarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be lessprecise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translatesthe rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position orcommand for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 200includes a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivatingparticular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is atouch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, doesnot display visual output. The touchpad is a touch-sensitive surfacethat is separate from touch screen 212 or an extension of thetouch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

Device 200 also includes power system 262 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 262 includes a power management system, one ormore power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 200 also includes one or more optical sensors 264. FIG. 2A showsan optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 258 in I/Osubsystem 206. Optical sensor 264 includes charge-coupled device (CCD)or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors.Optical sensor 264 receives light from the environment, projectedthrough one or more lenses, and converts the light to data representingan image. In conjunction with imaging module 243 (also called a cameramodule), optical sensor 264 captures still images or video. In someembodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of device 200,opposite touch screen display 212 on the front of the device so that thetouch screen display is used as a viewfinder for still and/or videoimage acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located onthe front of the device so that the user's image is obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conferenceparticipants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, theposition of optical sensor 264 can be changed by the user (e.g., byrotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a singleoptical sensor 264 is used along with the touch screen display for bothvideo conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.

Device 200 optionally also includes one or more contact intensitysensors 265. FIG. 2A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled tointensity sensor controller 259 in I/O subsystem 206. Contact intensitysensor 265 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges,capacitive force sensors, electric force sensors, piezoelectric forcesensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, orother intensity sensors (e.g., sensors used to measure the force (orpressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensitysensor 265 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressureinformation or a proxy for pressure information) from the environment.In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is collocatedwith, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitivedisplay system 212). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensitysensor is located on the back of device 200, opposite touch screendisplay 212, which is located on the front of device 200.

Device 200 also includes one or more proximity sensors 266. FIG. 2Ashows proximity sensor 266 coupled to peripherals interface 218.Alternately, proximity sensor 266 is coupled to input controller 260 inI/O subsystem 206. Proximity sensor 266 is performed as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector InHandheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In HandheldDevice”; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To AugmentProximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response ToAnd Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”; and Ser. No.11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration OfPeripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off anddisables touch screen 212 when the multifunction device is placed nearthe user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 200 optionally also includes one or more tactile outputgenerators 267. FIG. 2A shows a tactile output generator coupled tohaptic feedback controller 261 in I/O subsystem 206. Tactile outputgenerator 267 optionally includes one or more electroacoustic devicessuch as speakers or other audio components and/or electromechanicaldevices that convert energy into linear motion such as a motor,solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostaticactuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., acomponent that converts electrical signals into tactile outputs on thedevice). Contact intensity sensor 265 receives tactile feedbackgeneration instructions from haptic feedback module 233 and generatestactile outputs on device 200 that are capable of being sensed by a userof device 200. In some embodiments, at least one tactile outputgenerator is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212) and, optionally, generates atactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g.,in/out of a surface of device 200) or laterally (e.g., back and forth inthe same plane as a surface of device 200). In some embodiments, atleast one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back ofdevice 200, opposite touch screen display 212, which is located on thefront of device 200.

Device 200 also includes one or more accelerometers 268. FIG. 2A showsaccelerometer 268 coupled to peripherals interface 218. Alternately,accelerometer 268 is coupled to an input controller 260 in I/O subsystem206. Accelerometer 268 performs, for example, as described in U.S.Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft DetectionSystem for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No.20060017692, “Methods and Apparatuses For Operating A Portable DeviceBased On An Accelerometer,” both of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayedon the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view basedon an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.Device 200 optionally includes, in addition to accelerometer(s) 268, amagnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other globalnavigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaining informationconcerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) ofdevice 200.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 202include operating system 226, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 228, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 230,graphics module (or set of instructions) 232, text input module (or setof instructions) 234, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 235, Digital Assistant Client Module 229, and applications(or sets of instructions) 236. Further, memory 202 stores data andmodels, such as user data and models 231. Furthermore, in someembodiments, memory 202 (FIG. 2A) or 470 (FIG. 4) stores device/globalinternal state 257, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 4. Device/global internalstate 257 includes one or more of: active application state, indicatingwhich applications, if any, are currently active; display state,indicating what applications, views or other information occupy variousregions of touch screen display 212; sensor state, including informationobtained from the device's various sensors and input control devices216; and location information concerning the device's location and/orattitude.

Operating system 226 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between varioushardware and software components.

Communication module 228 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 224 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 208 and/orexternal port 224. External port 224 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with, the30-pin connector used on iPod® (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 230 optionally detects contact with touch screen212 (in conjunction with display controller 256) and othertouch-sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel).Contact/motion module 230 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-downevent), determining an intensity of the contact (e.g., the force orpressure of the contact or a substitute for the force or pressure of thecontact), determining if there is movement of the contact and trackingthe movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one ormore finger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased(e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact).Contact/motion module 230 receives contact data from the touch-sensitivesurface. Determining movement of the point of contact, which isrepresented by a series of contact data, optionally includes determiningspeed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or anacceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point ofcontact. These operations are, optionally, applied to single contacts(e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g.,“multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments,contact/motion module 230 and display controller 256 detect contact on atouchpad.

In some embodiments, contact/motion module 230 uses a set of one or moreintensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has beenperformed by a user (e.g., to determine whether a user has “clicked” onan icon). In some embodiments, at least a subset of the intensitythresholds are determined in accordance with software parameters (e.g.,the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholdsof particular physical actuators and can be adjusted without changingthe physical hardware of device 200). For example, a mouse “click”threshold of a trackpad or touch screen display can be set to any of alarge range of predefined threshold values without changing the trackpador touch screen display hardware. Additionally, in some implementations,a user of the device is provided with software settings for adjustingone or more of the set of intensity thresholds (e.g., by adjustingindividual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting a plurality ofintensity thresholds at once with a system-level click “intensity”parameter).

Contact/motion module 230 optionally detects a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities ofdetected contacts). Thus, a gesture is, optionally, detected bydetecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a fingertap gesture includes detecting a finger-down event followed by detectinga finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially thesame position) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the position of anicon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event followedby detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and subsequentlyfollowed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event.

Graphics module 232 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 212 or other display,including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness,transparency, saturation, contrast, or other visual property) ofgraphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics”includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including, withoutlimitation, text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objectsincluding soft keys), digital images, videos, animations, and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 232 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic is, optionally, assigned acorresponding code. Graphics module 232 receives, from applicationsetc., one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed along with,if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic property data, and thengenerates screen image data to output to display controller 256.

Haptic feedback module 233 includes various software components forgenerating instructions used by tactile output generator(s) 267 toproduce tactile outputs at one or more locations on device 200 inresponse to user interactions with device 200.

Text input module 234, which is, in some examples, a component ofgraphics module 232, provides soft keyboards for entering text invarious applications (e.g., contacts 237, email 240, IM 241, browser247, and any other application that needs text input).

GPS module 235 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 238 foruse in location-based dialing; to camera 243 as picture/video metadata;and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Digital assistant client module 229 includes various client-side digitalassistant instructions to provide the client-side functionalities of thedigital assistant. For example, digital assistant client module 229 iscapable of accepting voice input (e.g., speech input), text input, touchinput, and/or gestural input through various user interfaces (e.g.,microphone 213, accelerometer(s) 268, touch-sensitive display system212, optical sensor(s) 264, other input control devices 216, etc.) ofportable multifunction device 200. Digital assistant client module 229is also capable of providing output in audio (e.g., speech output),visual, and/or tactile forms through various output interfaces (e.g.,speaker 211, touch-sensitive display system 212, tactile outputgenerator(s) 267, etc.) of portable multifunction device 200. Forexample, output is provided as voice, sound, alerts, text messages,menus, graphics, videos, animations, vibrations, and/or combinations oftwo or more of the above. During operation, digital assistant clientmodule 229 communicates with DA server 106 using RF circuitry 208.

User data and models 231 include various data associated with the user(e.g., user-specific vocabulary data, user preference data,user-specified name pronunciations, data from the user's electronicaddress book, to-do lists, shopping lists, etc.) to provide theclient-side functionalities of the digital assistant. Further, user dataand models 231 include various models (e.g., speech recognition models,statistical language models, natural language processing models,ontology, task flow models, service models, etc.) for processing userinput and determining user intent.

In some examples, digital assistant client module 229 utilizes thevarious sensors, subsystems, and peripheral devices of portablemultifunction device 200 to gather additional information from thesurrounding environment of the portable multifunction device 200 toestablish a context associated with a user, the current userinteraction, and/or the current user input. In some examples, digitalassistant client module 229 provides the contextual information or asubset thereof with the user input to DA server 106 to help infer theuser's intent. In some examples, the digital assistant also uses thecontextual information to determine how to prepare and deliver outputsto the user. Contextual information is referred to as context data.

In some examples, the contextual information that accompanies the userinput includes sensor information, e.g., lighting, ambient noise,ambient temperature, images or videos of the surrounding environment,etc. In some examples, the contextual information can also include thephysical state of the device, e.g., device orientation, device location,device temperature, power level, speed, acceleration, motion patterns,cellular signals strength, etc. In some examples, information related tothe software state of DA server 106, e.g., running processes, installedprograms, past and present network activities, background services,error logs, resources usage, etc., and of portable multifunction device200 is provided to DA server 106 as contextual information associatedwith a user input.

In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 selectivelyprovides information (e.g., user data 231) stored on the portablemultifunction device 200 in response to requests from DA server 106. Insome examples, digital assistant client module 229 also elicitsadditional input from the user via a natural language dialogue or otheruser interfaces upon request by DA server 106. Digital assistant clientmodule 229 passes the additional input to DA server 106 to help DAserver 106 in intent deduction and/or fulfillment of the user's intentexpressed in the user request.

A more detailed description of a digital assistant is described belowwith reference to FIGS. 7A-C. It should be recognized that digitalassistant client module 229 can include any number of the sub-modules ofdigital assistant module 726 described below.

Applications 236 include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Contacts module 237 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   Telephone module 238;    -   Video conference module 239;    -   E-mail client module 240;    -   Instant messaging (IM) module 241;    -   Workout support module 242;    -   Camera module 243 for still and/or video images;    -   Image management module 244;    -   Video player module;    -   Music player module;    -   Browser module 247;    -   Calendar module 248;    -   Widget modules 249, which includes, in some examples, one or        more of: weather widget 249-1, stocks widget 249-2, calculator        widget 249-3, alarm clock widget 249-4, dictionary widget 249-5,        and other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created        widgets 249-6;    -   Widget creator module 250 for making user-created widgets 249-6;    -   Search module 251;    -   Video and music player module 252, which merges video player        module and music player module;    -   Notes module 253;    -   Map module 254; and/or    -   Online video module 255.

Examples of other applications 236 that are stored in memory 202 includeother word processing applications, other image editing applications,drawing applications, presentation applications, JAVA-enabledapplications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition,and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, contacts module 237 are used to manage an address book or contactlist (e.g., stored in application internal state 292 of contacts module237 in memory 202 or memory 470), including: adding name(s) to theaddress book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associatingtelephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or otherinformation with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizingand sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses toinitiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 238, videoconference module 239, e-mail 240, or IM 241; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motionmodule 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, telephonemodule 238 are used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to atelephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in contactsmodule 237, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial arespective telephone number, conduct a conversation, and disconnect orhang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication uses any of a plurality of communications standards,protocols, and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, touch screen 212, display controller 256, optical sensor264, optical sensor controller 258, contact/motion module 230, graphicsmodule 232, text input module 234, contacts module 237, and telephonemodule 238, video conference module 239 includes executable instructionsto initiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a userand one or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, e-mail client module 240 includes executableinstructions to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response touser instructions. In conjunction with image management module 244,e-mail client module 240 makes it very easy to create and send e-mailswith still or video images taken with camera module 243.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, the instant messaging module 241 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages, and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages include graphics, photos, audio files, video filesand/or other attachments as are supported in an MMS and/or an EnhancedMessaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers toboth telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, GPS module 235, map module 254, and music playermodule, workout support module 242 includes executable instructions tocreate workouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burninggoals); communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receiveworkout sensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; selectand play music for a workout; and display, store, and transmit workoutdata.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256, opticalsensor(s) 264, optical sensor controller 258, contact/motion module 230,graphics module 232, and image management module 244, camera module 243includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 202, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 202.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234,and camera module 243, image management module 244 includes executableinstructions to arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate,label, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), andstore still and/or video images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, browser module 247 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, e-mail client module 240, and browser module 247,calendar module 248 includes executable instructions to create, display,modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g.,calendar entries, to-do lists, etc.) in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, and browser module 247, widget modules 249 aremini-applications that can be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 249-1, stocks widget 249-2, calculator widget 249-3,alarm clock widget 249-4, and dictionary widget 249-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 249-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, and browser module 247, the widget creator module 250are used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specifiedportion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, search module 251 includes executable instructions to search fortext, music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 202 thatmatch one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specifiedsearch terms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210,speaker 211, RF circuitry 208, and browser module 247, video and musicplayer module 252 includes executable instructions that allow the userto download and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present, or otherwise play back videos (e.g.,on touch screen 212 or on an external, connected display via externalport 224). In some embodiments, device 200 optionally includes thefunctionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of AppleInc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, notes module 253 includes executable instructions to create andmanage notes, to-do lists, and the like in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, GPS module 235, and browser module 247, map module 254are used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associatedwith maps (e.g., driving directions, data on stores and other points ofinterest at or near a particular location, and other location-baseddata) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210,speaker 211, RF circuitry 208, text input module 234, e-mail clientmodule 240, and browser module 247, online video module 255 includesinstructions that allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., bystreaming and/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or onan external, connected display via external port 224), send an e-mailwith a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage onlinevideos in one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments,instant messaging module 241, rather than e-mail client module 240, isused to send a link to a particular online video. Additional descriptionof the online video application can be found in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/936,562, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, andGraphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Jun. 20,2007, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/968,067, “PortableMultifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for PlayingOnline Videos,” filed Dec. 31, 2007, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

Each of the above-identified modules and applications corresponds to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules,and thus various subsets of these modules can be combined or otherwiserearranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module canbe combined with music player module into a single module (e.g., videoand music player module 252, FIG. 2A). In some embodiments, memory 202stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 202 stores additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, device 200 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device200, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 200 is reduced.

The predefined set of functions that are performed exclusively through atouch screen and/or a touchpad optionally include navigation betweenuser interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by theuser, navigates device 200 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that is displayed on device 200. In such embodiments, a “menubutton” is implemented using a touchpad. In some other embodiments, themenu button is a physical push button or other physical input controldevice instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 202 (FIG. 2A) or 470 (FIG. 4) includes event sorter 270 (e.g., inoperating system 226) and a respective application 236-1 (e.g., any ofthe aforementioned applications 237-251, 255, 480-490).

Event sorter 270 receives event information and determines theapplication 236-1 and application view 291 of application 236-1 to whichto deliver the event information. Event sorter 270 includes eventmonitor 271 and event dispatcher module 274. In some embodiments,application 236-1 includes application internal state 292, whichindicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch-sensitivedisplay 212 when the application is active or executing. In someembodiments, device/global internal state 257 is used by event sorter270 to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, andapplication internal state 292 is used by event sorter 270 to determineapplication views 291 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 292 includes additionalinformation, such as one or more of: resume information to be used whenapplication 236-1 resumes execution, user interface state informationthat indicates information being displayed or that is ready for displayby application 236-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back toa prior state or view of application 236-1, and a redo/undo queue ofprevious actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 271 receives event information from peripherals interface218. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., auser touch on touch-sensitive display 212, as part of a multi-touchgesture). Peripherals interface 218 transmits information it receivesfrom I/O subsystem 206 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 266,accelerometer(s) 268, and/or microphone 213 (through audio circuitry210). Information that peripherals interface 218 receives from I/Osubsystem 206 includes information from touch-sensitive display 212 or atouch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 271 sends requests to the peripheralsinterface 218 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheralsinterface 218 transmits event information. In other embodiments,peripherals interface 218 transmits event information only when there isa significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predeterminednoise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event sorter 270 also includes a hit viewdetermination module 272 and/or an active event recognizer determinationmodule 273.

Hit view determination module 272 provides software procedures fordetermining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more viewswhen touch-sensitive display 212 displays more than one view. Views aremade up of controls and other elements that a user can see on thedisplay.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is aset of views, sometimes herein called application views or userinterface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-basedgestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) inwhich a touch is detected correspond to programmatic levels within aprogrammatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example, thelowest level view in which a touch is detected is called the hit view,and the set of events that are recognized as proper inputs is determinedbased, at least in part, on the hit view of the initial touch thatbegins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 272 receives information related to subevents of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multiple viewsorganized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 272 identifies ahit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which should handle thesub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowest level viewin which an initiating sub-event occurs (e.g., the first sub-event inthe sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event). Oncethe hit view is identified by the hit view determination module 272, thehit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch orinput source for which it was identified as the hit view.

Active event recognizer determination module 273 determines which viewor views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence ofsub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determinationmodule 273 determines that only the hit view should receive a particularsequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizerdetermination module 273 determines that all views that include thephysical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, andtherefore determines that all actively involved views should receive aparticular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touchsub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with oneparticular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain asactively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 274 dispatches the event information to an eventrecognizer (e.g., event recognizer 280). In embodiments including activeevent recognizer determination module 273, event dispatcher module 274delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined byactive event recognizer determination module 273. In some embodiments,event dispatcher module 274 stores in an event queue the eventinformation, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver 282.

In some embodiments, operating system 226 includes event sorter 270.Alternatively, application 236-1 includes event sorter 270. In yet otherembodiments, event sorter 270 is a stand-alone module, or a part ofanother module stored in memory 202, such as contact/motion module 230.

In some embodiments, application 236-1 includes a plurality of eventhandlers 290 and one or more application views 291, each of whichincludes instructions for handling touch events that occur within arespective view of the application's user interface. Each applicationview 291 of the application 236-1 includes one or more event recognizers280. Typically, a respective application view 291 includes a pluralityof event recognizers 280. In other embodiments, one or more of eventrecognizers 280 are part of a separate module, such as a user interfacekit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 236-1inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent handler 290 includes one or more of: data updater 276, objectupdater 277, GUI updater 278, and/or event data 279 received from eventsorter 270. Event handler 290 utilizes or calls data updater 276, objectupdater 277, or GUI updater 278 to update the application internal state292. Alternatively, one or more of the application views 291 include oneor more respective event handlers 290. Also, in some embodiments, one ormore of data updater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278 areincluded in a respective application view 291.

A respective event recognizer 280 receives event information (e.g.,event data 279) from event sorter 270 and identifies an event from theevent information. Event recognizer 280 includes event receiver 282 andevent comparator 284. In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 alsoincludes at least a subset of: metadata 283, and event deliveryinstructions 288 (which include sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 282 receives event information from event sorter 270. Theevent information includes information about a sub-event, for example, atouch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the eventinformation also includes additional information, such as location ofthe sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch, the eventinformation also includes speed and direction of the sub-event. In someembodiments, events include rotation of the device from one orientationto another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscapeorientation, or vice versa), and the event information includescorresponding information about the current orientation (also calleddevice attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 284 compares the event information to predefined eventor sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines anevent or sub event, or determines or updates the state of an event orsub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 284 includes eventdefinitions 286. Event definitions 286 contain definitions of events(e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1(287-1), event 2 (287-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events inan event (287) include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touchmovement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, thedefinition for event 1 (287-1) is a double tap on a displayed object.The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) onthe displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on thedisplayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition forevent 2 (287-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, forexample, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for apredetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitivedisplay 212, and liftoff of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments,the event also includes information for one or more associated eventhandlers 290.

In some embodiments, event definition 287 includes a definition of anevent for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, eventcomparator 284 performs a hit test to determine which user-interfaceobject is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an applicationview in which three user-interface objects are displayed ontouch-sensitive display 212, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitivedisplay 212, event comparator 284 performs a hit test to determine whichof the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch(sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respectiveevent handler 290, the event comparator uses the result of the hit testto determine which event handler 290 should be activated. For example,event comparator 284 selects an event handler associated with thesub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event (287) alsoincludes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event informationuntil after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-eventsdoes or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 280 determines that the series ofsub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 286, therespective event recognizer 280 enters an event impossible, eventfailed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequentsub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other eventrecognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue totrack and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 280 includes metadata283 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate howthe event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to activelyinvolved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 283 includesconfigurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how eventrecognizers interact, or are enabled to interact, with one another. Insome embodiments, metadata 283 includes configurable properties, flags,and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered to varyinglevels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 280 activates eventhandler 290 associated with an event when one or more particularsub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent recognizer 280 delivers event information associated with theevent to event handler 290. Activating an event handler 290 is distinctfrom sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view.In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 throws a flag associated withthe recognized event, and event handler 290 associated with the flagcatches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 288 include sub-eventdelivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-eventwithout activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event deliveryinstructions deliver event information to event handlers associated withthe series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlersassociated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved viewsreceive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 276 creates and updates data used inapplication 236-1. For example, data updater 276 updates the telephonenumber used in contacts module 237, or stores a video file used in videoplayer module. In some embodiments, object updater 277 creates andupdates objects used in application 236-1. For example, object updater277 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of auser-interface object. GUI updater 278 updates the GUI. For example, GUIupdater 278 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module232 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 290 includes or has access to dataupdater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278. In someembodiments, data updater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278are included in a single module of a respective application 236-1 orapplication view 291. In other embodiments, they are included in two ormore software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding eventhandling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies toother forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices 200 withinput devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens. Forexample, mouse movement and mouse button presses, optionally coordinatedwith single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movementssuch as taps, drags, scrolls, etc. on touchpads; pen stylus inputs;movement of the device; oral instructions; detected eye movements;biometric inputs; and/or any combination thereof are optionally utilizedas inputs corresponding to sub-events which define an event to berecognized.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device 200 having a touchscreen 212 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screenoptionally displays one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 300.In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user is enabledto select one or more of the graphics by making a gesture on thegraphics, for example, with one or more fingers 302 (not drawn to scalein the figure) or one or more styluses 303 (not drawn to scale in thefigure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurswhen the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In someembodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one ormore swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward),and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upwardand/or downward) that has made contact with device 200. In someimplementations or circumstances, inadvertent contact with a graphicdoes not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweepsover an application icon optionally does not select the correspondingapplication when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.

Device 200 also includes one or more physical buttons, such as “home” ormenu button 304. As described previously, menu button 304 is used tonavigate to any application 236 in a set of applications that isexecuted on device 200. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen212.

In one embodiment, device 200 includes touch screen 212, menu button304, push button 306 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 308, subscriber identity module(SIM) card slot 310, headset jack 312, and docking/charging externalport 224. Push button 306 is, optionally, used to turn the power on/offon the device by depressing the button and holding the button in thedepressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device bydepressing the button and releasing the button before the predefinedtime interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate anunlock process. In an alternative embodiment, device 200 also acceptsverbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions throughmicrophone 213. Device 200 also, optionally, includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 265 for detecting intensity of contacts ontouch screen 212 and/or one or more tactile output generators 267 forgenerating tactile outputs for a user of device 200.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 400 need not be portable. In some embodiments,device 400 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer,a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device(such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device(e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 400 typically includesone or more processing units (CPUs) 410, one or more network or othercommunications interfaces 460, memory 470, and one or more communicationbuses 420 for interconnecting these components. Communication buses 420optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) thatinterconnects and controls communications between system components.Device 400 includes input/output (I/O) interface 430 comprising display440, which is typically a touch screen display. I/O interface 430 alsooptionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device)450 and touchpad 455, tactile output generator 457 for generatingtactile outputs on device 400 (e.g., similar to tactile outputgenerator(s) 267 described above with reference to FIG. 2A), sensors 459(e.g., optical, acceleration, proximity, touch-sensitive, and/or contactintensity sensors similar to contact intensity sensor(s) 265 describedabove with reference to FIG. 2A). Memory 470 includes high-speed randomaccess memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solidstate memory devices; and optionally includes non-volatile memory, suchas one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storagedevices. Memory 470 optionally includes one or more storage devicesremotely located from CPU(s) 410. In some embodiments, memory 470 storesprograms, modules, and data structures analogous to the programs,modules, and data structures stored in memory 202 of portablemultifunction device 200 (FIG. 2A), or a subset thereof. Furthermore,memory 470 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and datastructures not present in memory 202 of portable multifunction device200. For example, memory 470 of device 400 optionally stores drawingmodule 480, presentation module 482, word processing module 484, websitecreation module 486, disk authoring module 488, and/or spreadsheetmodule 490, while memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200 (FIG.2A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above-identified elements in FIG. 4 is, in some examples,stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices. Eachof the above-identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions forperforming a function described above. The above-identified modules orprograms (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules are combined or otherwise rearranged in variousembodiments. In some embodiments, memory 470 stores a subset of themodules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 470stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces thatcan be implemented on, for example, portable multifunction device 200.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on portable multifunction device 200 in accordance withsome embodiments. Similar user interfaces are implemented on device 400.In some embodiments, user interface 500 includes the following elements,or a subset or superset thereof:

Signal strength indicator(s) 502 for wireless communication(s), such ascellular and Wi-Fi signals;

-   -   Time 504;    -   Bluetooth indicator 505;    -   Battery status indicator 506;    -   Tray 508 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Icon 516 for telephone module 238, labeled “Phone,” which            optionally includes an indicator 514 of the number of missed            calls or voicemail messages;        -   Icon 518 for e-mail client module 240, labeled “Mail,” which            optionally includes an indicator 510 of the number of unread            e-mails;        -   Icon 520 for browser module 247, labeled “Browser;” and        -   Icon 522 for video and music player module 252, also            referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 252,            labeled “iPod;” and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   Icon 524 for IM module 241, labeled “Messages;”        -   Icon 526 for calendar module 248, labeled “Calendar;”        -   Icon 528 for image management module 244, labeled “Photos;”        -   Icon 530 for camera module 243, labeled “Camera;”        -   Icon 532 for online video module 255, labeled “Online            Video;”        -   Icon 534 for stocks widget 249-2, labeled “Stocks;”        -   Icon 536 for map module 254, labeled “Maps;”        -   Icon 538 for weather widget 249-1, labeled “Weather;”        -   Icon 540 for alarm clock widget 249-4, labeled “Clock;”        -   Icon 542 for workout support module 242, labeled “Workout            Support;”        -   Icon 544 for notes module 253, labeled “Notes;” and        -   Icon 546 for a settings application or module, labeled            “Settings,” which provides access to settings for device 200            and its various applications 236.

It should be noted that the icon labels illustrated in FIG. 5A aremerely exemplary. For example, icon 522 for video and music playermodule 252 is optionally labeled “Music” or “Music Player.” Other labelsare, optionally, used for various application icons. In someembodiments, a label for a respective application icon includes a nameof an application corresponding to the respective application icon. Insome embodiments, a label for a particular application icon is distinctfrom a name of an application corresponding to the particularapplication icon.

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g.,device 400, FIG. 4) with a touch-sensitive surface 551 (e.g., a tabletor touchpad 455, FIG. 4) that is separate from the display 550 (e.g.,touch screen display 212). Device 400 also, optionally, includes one ormore contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 457) fordetecting intensity of contacts on touch-sensitive surface 551 and/orone or more tactile output generators 459 for generating tactile outputsfor a user of device 400.

Although some of the examples which follow will be given with referenceto inputs on touch screen display 212 (where the touch-sensitive surfaceand the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detectsinputs on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display,as shown in FIG. 5B. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive surface(e.g., 551 in FIG. 5B) has a primary axis (e.g., 552 in FIG. 5B) thatcorresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 553 in FIG. 5B) on the display(e.g., 550). In accordance with these embodiments, the device detectscontacts (e.g., 560 and 562 in FIG. 5B) with the touch-sensitive surface551 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display(e.g., in FIG. 5B, 560 corresponds to 568 and 562 corresponds to 570).In this way, user inputs (e.g., contacts 560 and 562, and movementsthereof) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,551 in FIG. 5B) are used by the device to manipulate the user interfaceon the display (e.g., 550 in FIG. 5B) of the multifunction device whenthe touch-sensitive surface is separate from the display. It should beunderstood that similar methods are, optionally, used for other userinterfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily withreference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures,finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in someembodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with inputfrom another input device (e.g., a mouse-based input or stylus input).For example, a swipe gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click(e.g., instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor alongthe path of the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). Asanother example, a tap gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouseclick while the cursor is located over the location of the tap gesture(e.g., instead of detection of the contact followed by ceasing to detectthe contact). Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneouslydetected, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are,optionally, used simultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts are,optionally, used simultaneously.

FIG. 6A illustrates exemplary personal electronic device 600. Device 600includes body 602. In some embodiments, device 600 includes some or allof the features described with respect to devices 200 and 400 (e.g.,FIGS. 2A-4). In some embodiments, device 600 has touch-sensitive displayscreen 604, hereafter touch screen 604. Alternatively, or in addition totouch screen 604, device 600 has a display and a touch-sensitivesurface. As with devices 200 and 400, in some embodiments, touch screen604 (or the touch-sensitive surface) has one or more intensity sensorsfor detecting intensity of contacts (e.g., touches) being applied. Theone or more intensity sensors of touch screen 604 (or thetouch-sensitive surface) provide output data that represents theintensity of touches. The user interface of device 600 responds totouches based on their intensity, meaning that touches of differentintensities can invoke different user interface operations on device600.

Techniques for detecting and processing touch intensity are found, forexample, in related applications: International Patent ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US2013/040061, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical UserInterface for Displaying User Interface Objects Corresponding to anApplication,” filed May 8, 2013, and International Patent ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US2013/069483, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical UserInterface for Transitioning Between Touch Input to Display OutputRelationships,” filed Nov. 11, 2013, each of which is herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more input mechanisms 606 and608. Input mechanisms 606 and 608, if included, are physical. Examplesof physical input mechanisms include push buttons and rotatablemechanisms. In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more attachmentmechanisms. Such attachment mechanisms, if included, can permitattachment of device 600 with, for example, hats, eyewear, earrings,necklaces, shirts, jackets, bracelets, watch straps, chains, trousers,belts, shoes, purses, backpacks, and so forth. These attachmentmechanisms permit device 600 to be worn by a user.

FIG. 6B depicts exemplary personal electronic device 600. In someembodiments, device 600 includes some or all of the components describedwith respect to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 4. Device 600 has bus 612 thatoperatively couples I/O section 614 with one or more computer processors616 and memory 618. I/O section 614 is connected to touch-sensitivedisplay screen 604, which can have touch-sensitive component 622 and,optionally, touch-intensity sensitive component 624. In addition, I/Osection 614 is connected with communication unit 630 for receivingapplication and operating system data, using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, nearfield communication (NFC), cellular, and/or other wireless communicationtechniques. Device 600 includes input mechanisms 606 and/or 608. Inputmechanism 606 is a rotatable input device or a depressible and rotatableinput device, for example. Input mechanism 608 is a button, in someexamples.

Input mechanism 608 is a microphone, in some examples. Personalelectronic device 600 includes, for example, various sensors, such asGPS sensor 632, accelerometer 634, directional sensor 640 (e.g.,compass), gyroscope 636, motion sensor 638, and/or a combinationthereof, all of which are operatively connected to I/O section 614.

Memory 618 of personal electronic device 600 is a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, for storing computer-executableinstructions, which, when executed by one or more computer processors616, for example, cause the computer processors to perform thetechniques and processes described below. The computer-executableinstructions, for example, are also stored and/or transported within anynon-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device,such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or othersystem that can fetch the instructions from the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. Personalelectronic device 600 is not limited to the components and configurationof FIG. 6B, but can include other or additional components in multipleconfigurations.

As used here, the term “affordance” refers to a user-interactivegraphical user interface object that is, for example, displayed on thedisplay screen of devices 200, 400, and/or 600 (FIGS. 2A, 4, and 6A-B).For example, an image (e.g., icon), a button, and text (e.g., hyperlink)each constitutes an affordance.

As used herein, the term “focus selector” refers to an input elementthat indicates a current part of a user interface with which a user isinteracting. In some implementations that include a cursor or otherlocation marker, the cursor acts as a “focus selector” so that when aninput (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touchpad 455 in FIG. 4 or touch-sensitive surface 551 in FIG. 5B)while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., abutton, window, slider or other user interface element), the particularuser interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detectedinput. In some implementations that include a touch screen display(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212 in FIG. 2A or touch screen 212in FIG. 5A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elementson the touch screen display, a detected contact on the touch screen actsas a “focus selector” so that when an input (e.g., a press input by thecontact) is detected on the touch screen display at a location of aparticular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, orother user interface element), the particular user interface element isadjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations,focus is moved from one region of a user interface to another region ofthe user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor ormovement of a contact on a touch screen display (e.g., by using a tabkey or arrow keys to move focus from one button to another button); inthese implementations, the focus selector moves in accordance withmovement of focus between different regions of the user interface.Without regard to the specific form taken by the focus selector, thefocus selector is generally the user interface element (or contact on atouch screen display) that is controlled by the user so as tocommunicate the user's intended interaction with the user interface(e.g., by indicating, to the device, the element of the user interfacewith which the user is intending to interact). For example, the locationof a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, a contact, or a selection box) overa respective button while a press input is detected on thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touch screen) will indicatethat the user is intending to activate the respective button (as opposedto other user interface elements shown on a display of the device).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “characteristicintensity” of a contact refers to a characteristic of the contact basedon one or more intensities of the contact. In some embodiments, thecharacteristic intensity is based on multiple intensity samples. Thecharacteristic intensity is, optionally, based on a predefined number ofintensity samples, or a set of intensity samples collected during apredetermined time period (e.g., 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10seconds) relative to a predefined event (e.g., after detecting thecontact, prior to detecting liftoff of the contact, before or afterdetecting a start of movement of the contact, prior to detecting an endof the contact, before or after detecting an increase in intensity ofthe contact, and/or before or after detecting a decrease in intensity ofthe contact). A characteristic intensity of a contact is, optionallybased on one or more of: a maximum value of the intensities of thecontact, a mean value of the intensities of the contact, an averagevalue of the intensities of the contact, a top 10 percentile value ofthe intensities of the contact, a value at the half maximum of theintensities of the contact, a value at the 90 percent maximum of theintensities of the contact, or the like. In some embodiments, theduration of the contact is used in determining the characteristicintensity (e.g., when the characteristic intensity is an average of theintensity of the contact over time). In some embodiments, thecharacteristic intensity is compared to a set of one or more intensitythresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by auser. For example, the set of one or more intensity thresholds includesa first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold. In thisexample, a contact with a characteristic intensity that does not exceedthe first threshold results in a first operation, a contact with acharacteristic intensity that exceeds the first intensity threshold anddoes not exceed the second intensity threshold results in a secondoperation, and a contact with a characteristic intensity that exceedsthe second threshold results in a third operation. In some embodiments,a comparison between the characteristic intensity and one or morethresholds is used to determine whether or not to perform one or moreoperations (e.g., whether to perform a respective operation or forgoperforming the respective operation) rather than being used to determinewhether to perform a first operation or a second operation.

In some embodiments, a portion of a gesture is identified for purposesof determining a characteristic intensity. For example, atouch-sensitive surface receives a continuous swipe contacttransitioning from a start location and reaching an end location, atwhich point the intensity of the contact increases. In this example, thecharacteristic intensity of the contact at the end location is based ononly a portion of the continuous swipe contact, and not the entire swipecontact (e.g., only the portion of the swipe contact at the endlocation). In some embodiments, a smoothing algorithm is applied to theintensities of the swipe contact prior to determining the characteristicintensity of the contact. For example, the smoothing algorithmoptionally includes one or more of: an unweighted sliding-averagesmoothing algorithm, a triangular smoothing algorithm, a median filtersmoothing algorithm, and/or an exponential smoothing algorithm. In somecircumstances, these smoothing algorithms eliminate narrow spikes ordips in the intensities of the swipe contact for purposes of determininga characteristic intensity.

The intensity of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface ischaracterized relative to one or more intensity thresholds, such as acontact-detection intensity threshold, a light press intensitythreshold, a deep press intensity threshold, and/or one or more otherintensity thresholds. In some embodiments, the light press intensitythreshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will performoperations typically associated with clicking a button of a physicalmouse or a trackpad. In some embodiments, the deep press intensitythreshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will performoperations that are different from operations typically associated withclicking a button of a physical mouse or a trackpad. In someembodiments, when a contact is detected with a characteristic intensitybelow the light press intensity threshold (e.g., and above a nominalcontact-detection intensity threshold below which the contact is nolonger detected), the device will move a focus selector in accordancewith movement of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface withoutperforming an operation associated with the light press intensitythreshold or the deep press intensity threshold. Generally, unlessotherwise stated, these intensity thresholds are consistent betweendifferent sets of user interface figures.

An increase of characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensitybelow the light press intensity threshold to an intensity between thelight press intensity threshold and the deep press intensity thresholdis sometimes referred to as a “light press” input. An increase ofcharacteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the deeppress intensity threshold to an intensity above the deep press intensitythreshold is sometimes referred to as a “deep press” input. An increaseof characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below thecontact-detection intensity threshold to an intensity between thecontact-detection intensity threshold and the light press intensitythreshold is sometimes referred to as detecting the contact on thetouch-surface. A decrease of characteristic intensity of the contactfrom an intensity above the contact-detection intensity threshold to anintensity below the contact-detection intensity threshold is sometimesreferred to as detecting liftoff of the contact from the touch-surface.In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold is zero.In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold isgreater than zero.

In some embodiments described herein, one or more operations areperformed in response to detecting a gesture that includes a respectivepress input or in response to detecting the respective press inputperformed with a respective contact (or a plurality of contacts), wherethe respective press input is detected based at least in part ondetecting an increase in intensity of the contact (or plurality ofcontacts) above a press-input intensity threshold. In some embodiments,the respective operation is performed in response to detecting theincrease in intensity of the respective contact above the press-inputintensity threshold (e.g., a “down stroke” of the respective pressinput). In some embodiments, the press input includes an increase inintensity of the respective contact above the press-input intensitythreshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact belowthe press-input intensity threshold, and the respective operation isperformed in response to detecting the subsequent decrease in intensityof the respective contact below the press-input threshold (e.g., an “upstroke” of the respective press input).

In some embodiments, the device employs intensity hysteresis to avoidaccidental inputs sometimes termed “jitter,” where the device defines orselects a hysteresis intensity threshold with a predefined relationshipto the press-input intensity threshold (e.g., the hysteresis intensitythreshold is X intensity units lower than the press-input intensitythreshold or the hysteresis intensity threshold is 75%, 90%, or somereasonable proportion of the press-input intensity threshold). Thus, insome embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity ofthe respective contact above the press-input intensity threshold and asubsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the hysteresisintensity threshold that corresponds to the press-input intensitythreshold, and the respective operation is performed in response todetecting the subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contactbelow the hysteresis intensity threshold (e.g., an “up stroke” of therespective press input). Similarly, in some embodiments, the press inputis detected only when the device detects an increase in intensity of thecontact from an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity thresholdto an intensity at or above the press-input intensity threshold and,optionally, a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact to anintensity at or below the hysteresis intensity, and the respectiveoperation is performed in response to detecting the press input (e.g.,the increase in intensity of the contact or the decrease in intensity ofthe contact, depending on the circumstances).

For ease of explanation, the descriptions of operations performed inresponse to a press input associated with a press-input intensitythreshold or in response to a gesture including the press input are,optionally, triggered in response to detecting either: an increase inintensity of a contact above the press-input intensity threshold, anincrease in intensity of a contact from an intensity below thehysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity above the press-inputintensity threshold, a decrease in intensity of the contact below thepress-input intensity threshold, and/or a decrease in intensity of thecontact below the hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to thepress-input intensity threshold. Additionally, in examples where anoperation is described as being performed in response to detecting adecrease in intensity of a contact below the press-input intensitythreshold, the operation is, optionally, performed in response todetecting a decrease in intensity of the contact below a hysteresisintensity threshold corresponding to, and lower than, the press-inputintensity threshold.

Digital Assistant System

FIG. 7A illustrates a block diagram of digital assistant system 700 inaccordance with various examples. In some examples, digital assistantsystem 700 is implemented on a standalone computer system. In someexamples, digital assistant system 700 is distributed across multiplecomputers. In some examples, some of the modules and functions of thedigital assistant are divided into a server portion and a clientportion, where the client portion resides on one or more user devices(e.g., devices 104, 122, 200, 400, or 600) and communicates with theserver portion (e.g., server system 108) through one or more networks,e.g., as shown in FIG. 1. In some examples, digital assistant system 700is an implementation of server system 108 (and/or DA server 106) shownin FIG. 1. It should be noted that digital assistant system 700 is onlyone example of a digital assistant system, and that digital assistantsystem 700 can have more or fewer components than shown, can combine twoor more components, or can have a different configuration or arrangementof the components. The various components shown in FIG. 7A areimplemented in hardware, software instructions for execution by one ormore processors, firmware, including one or more signal processingand/or application specific integrated circuits, or a combinationthereof.

Digital assistant system 700 includes memory 702, one or more processors704, input/output (I/O) interface 706, and network communicationsinterface 708. These components can communicate with one another overone or more communication buses or signal lines 710.

In some examples, memory 702 includes a non-transitory computer-readablemedium, such as high-speed random access memory and/or a non-volatilecomputer-readable storage medium (e.g., one or more magnetic diskstorage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-statememory devices).

In some examples, I/O interface 706 couples input/output devices 716 ofdigital assistant system 700, such as displays, keyboards, touchscreens, and microphones, to user interface module 722. I/O interface706, in conjunction with user interface module 722, receives user inputs(e.g., voice input, keyboard inputs, touch inputs, etc.) and processesthem accordingly. In some examples, e.g., when the digital assistant isimplemented on a standalone user device, digital assistant system 700includes any of the components and I/O communication interfacesdescribed with respect to devices 200, 400, or 600 in FIGS. 2A, 4, 6A-B,respectively. In some examples, digital assistant system 700 representsthe server portion of a digital assistant implementation, and caninteract with the user through a client-side portion residing on a userdevice (e.g., devices 104, 200, 400, or 600).

In some examples, the network communications interface 708 includeswired communication port(s) 712 and/or wireless transmission andreception circuitry 714. The wired communication port(s) receives andsend communication signals via one or more wired interfaces, e.g.,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc. The wirelesscircuitry 714 receives and sends RF signals and/or optical signalsfrom/to communications networks and other communications devices. Thewireless communications use any of a plurality of communicationsstandards, protocols, and technologies, such as GSM, EDGE, CDMA, TDMA,Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VoIP, Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communicationprotocol. Network communications interface 708 enables communicationbetween digital assistant system 700 with networks, such as theInternet, an intranet, and/or a wireless network, such as a cellulartelephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN), and/or ametropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices.

In some examples, memory 702, or the computer-readable storage media ofmemory 702, stores programs, modules, instructions, and data structuresincluding all or a subset of: operating system 718, communicationsmodule 720, user interface module 722, one or more applications 724, anddigital assistant module 726. In particular, memory 702, or thecomputer-readable storage media of memory 702, stores instructions forperforming the processes described below. One or more processors 704execute these programs, modules, and instructions, and reads/writesfrom/to the data structures.

Operating system 718 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, iOS, OS X,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communications between varioushardware, firmware, and software components.

Communications module 720 facilitates communications between digitalassistant system 700 with other devices over network communicationsinterface 708. For example, communications module 720 communicates withRF circuitry 208 of electronic devices such as devices 200, 400, and 600shown in FIGS. 2A, 4, 6A-B, respectively. Communications module 720 alsoincludes various components for handling data received by wirelesscircuitry 714 and/or wired communications port 712.

User interface module 722 receives commands and/or inputs from a uservia I/O interface 706 (e.g., from a keyboard, touch screen, pointingdevice, controller, and/or microphone), and generate user interfaceobjects on a display. User interface module 722 also prepares anddelivers outputs (e.g., speech, sound, animation, text, icons,vibrations, haptic feedback, light, etc.) to the user via the I/Ointerface 706 (e.g., through displays, audio channels, speakers,touch-pads, etc.).

Applications 724 include programs and/or modules that are configured tobe executed by one or more processors 704. For example, if the digitalassistant system is implemented on a standalone user device,applications 724 include user applications, such as games, a calendarapplication, a navigation application, or an email application. Ifdigital assistant system 700 is implemented on a server, applications724 include resource management applications, diagnostic applications,or scheduling applications, for example.

Memory 702 also stores digital assistant module 726 (or the serverportion of a digital assistant). In some examples, digital assistantmodule 726 includes the following sub-modules, or a subset or supersetthereof: input/output processing module 728, speech-to-text (STT)processing module 730, natural language processing module 732, dialogueflow processing module 734, task flow processing module 736, serviceprocessing module 738, and speech synthesis processing module 740. Eachof these modules has access to one or more of the following systems ordata and models of the digital assistant module 726, or a subset orsuperset thereof: ontology 760, vocabulary index 744, user data 748,task flow models 754, service models 756, and ASR systems 758.

In some examples, using the processing modules, data, and modelsimplemented in digital assistant module 726, the digital assistant canperform at least some of the following: converting speech input intotext; identifying a user's intent expressed in a natural language inputreceived from the user; actively eliciting and obtaining informationneeded to fully infer the user's intent (e.g., by disambiguating words,games, intentions, etc.); determining the task flow for fulfilling theinferred intent; and executing the task flow to fulfill the inferredintent.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 7B, I/O processing module 728interacts with the user through I/O devices 716 in FIG. 7A or with auser device (e.g., devices 104, 200, 400, or 600) through networkcommunications interface 708 in FIG. 7A to obtain user input (e.g., aspeech input) and to provide responses (e.g., as speech outputs) to theuser input. I/O processing module 728 optionally obtains contextualinformation associated with the user input from the user device, alongwith or shortly after the receipt of the user input. The contextualinformation includes user-specific data, vocabulary, and/or preferencesrelevant to the user input. In some examples, the contextual informationalso includes software and hardware states of the user device at thetime the user request is received, and/or information related to thesurrounding environment of the user at the time that the user requestwas received. In some examples, I/O processing module 728 also sendsfollow-up questions to, and receive answers from, the user regarding theuser request. When a user request is received by I/O processing module728 and the user request includes speech input, I/O processing module728 forwards the speech input to STT processing module 730 (or speechrecognizer) for speech-to-text conversions.

STT processing module 730 includes one or more ASR systems 758. The oneor more ASR systems 758 can process the speech input that is receivedthrough I/O processing module 728 to produce a recognition result. EachASR system 758 includes a front-end speech pre-processor. The front-endspeech pre-processor extracts representative features from the speechinput. For example, the front-end speech pre-processor performs aFourier transform on the speech input to extract spectral features thatcharacterize the speech input as a sequence of representativemulti-dimensional vectors. Further, each ASR system 758 includes one ormore speech recognition models (e.g., acoustic models and/or languagemodels) and implements one or more speech recognition engines. Examplesof speech recognition models include Hidden Markov Models,Gaussian-Mixture Models, Deep Neural Network Models, n-gram languagemodels, and other statistical models. Examples of speech recognitionengines include the dynamic time warping based engines and weightedfinite-state transducers (WFST) based engines. The one or more speechrecognition models and the one or more speech recognition engines areused to process the extracted representative features of the front-endspeech pre-processor to produce intermediate recognitions results (e.g.,phonemes, phonemic strings, and sub-words), and ultimately, textrecognition results (e.g., words, word strings, or sequence of tokens).In some examples, the speech input is processed at least partially by athird-party service or on the user's device (e.g., device 104, 200, 400,or 600) to produce the recognition result. Once STT processing module730 produces recognition results containing a text string (e.g., words,or sequence of words, or sequence of tokens), the recognition result ispassed to natural language processing module 732 for intent deduction.In some examples, STT processing module 730 produces multiple candidatetext representations of the speech input. Each candidate textrepresentation is a sequence of words or tokens corresponding to thespeech input. In some examples, each candidate text representation isassociated with a speech recognition confidence score. Based on thespeech recognition confidence scores, STT processing module 730 ranksthe candidate text representations and provides the n-best (e.g., nhighest ranked) candidate text representation(s) to natural languageprocessing module 732 for intent deduction, where n is a predeterminedinteger greater than zero. For example, in one example, only the highestranked (n=1) candidate text representation is passed to natural languageprocessing module 732 for intent deduction. In another example, the fivehighest ranked (n=5) candidate text representations are passed tonatural language processing module 732 for intent deduction.

More details on the speech-to-text processing are described in U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 13/236,942 for “Consolidating SpeechRecognition Results,” filed on Sep. 20, 2011, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, STT processing module 730 includes and/or accesses avocabulary of recognizable words via phonetic alphabet conversion module731. Each vocabulary word is associated with one or more candidatepronunciations of the word represented in a speech recognition phoneticalphabet. In particular, the vocabulary of recognizable words includes aword that is associated with a plurality of candidate pronunciations.For example, the vocabulary includes the word “tomato” that isassociated with the candidate pronunciations of /

/ and /

/. Further, vocabulary words are associated with custom candidatepronunciations that are based on previous speech inputs from the user.Such custom candidate pronunciations are stored in STT processing module730 and are associated with a particular user via the user's profile onthe device. In some examples, the candidate pronunciations for words aredetermined based on the spelling of the word and one or more linguisticand/or phonetic rules. In some examples, the candidate pronunciationsare manually generated, e.g., based on known canonical pronunciations.

In some examples, the candidate pronunciations are ranked based on thecommonness of the candidate pronunciation. For example, the candidatepronunciation /

/ is ranked higher than /

/, because the former is a more commonly used pronunciation (e.g., amongall users, for users in a particular geographical region, or for anyother appropriate subset of users). In some examples, candidatepronunciations are ranked based on whether the candidate pronunciationis a custom candidate pronunciation associated with the user. Forexample, custom candidate pronunciations are ranked higher thancanonical candidate pronunciations. This can be useful for recognizingproper nouns having a unique pronunciation that deviates from canonicalpronunciation. In some examples, candidate pronunciations are associatedwith one or more speech characteristics, such as geographic origin,nationality, or ethnicity. For example, the candidate pronunciation /

/ is associated with the United States, whereas the candidatepronunciation /

/ is associated with Great Britain. Further, the rank of the candidatepronunciation is based on one or more characteristics (e.g., geographicorigin, nationality, ethnicity, etc.) of the user stored in the user'sprofile on the device. For example, it can be determined from the user'sprofile that the user is associated with the United States. Based on theuser being associated with the United States, the candidatepronunciation /

/ (associated with the United States) is ranked higher than thecandidate pronunciation /

/ (associated with Great Britain). In some examples, one of the rankedcandidate pronunciations is selected as a predicted pronunciation (e.g.,the most likely pronunciation).

When a speech input is received, STT processing module 730 is used todetermine the phonemes corresponding to the speech input (e.g., using anacoustic model), and then attempt to determine words that match thephonemes (e.g., using a language model). For example, if STT processingmodule 730 first identifies the sequence of phonemes /

/ corresponding to a portion of the speech input, it can then determine,based on vocabulary index 744, that this sequence corresponds to theword “tomato.”

In some examples, STT processing module 730 uses approximate matchingtechniques to determine words in an utterance. Thus, for example, theSTT processing module 730 determines that the sequence of phonemes /

/ corresponds to the word “tomato,” even if that particular sequence ofphonemes is not one of the candidate sequence of phonemes for that word.

Natural language processing module 732 (“natural language processor”) ofthe digital assistant takes the n-best candidate text representation(s)(“word sequence(s)” or “token sequence(s)”) generated by STT processingmodule 730, and attempts to associate each of the candidate textrepresentations with one or more “actionable intents” recognized by thedigital assistant. An “actionable intent” (or “user intent”) representsa task that can be performed by the digital assistant, and can have anassociated task flow implemented in task flow models 754. The associatedtask flow is a series of programmed actions and steps that the digitalassistant takes in order to perform the task. The scope of a digitalassistant's capabilities is dependent on the number and variety of taskflows that have been implemented and stored in task flow models 754, orin other words, on the number and variety of “actionable intents” thatthe digital assistant recognizes. The effectiveness of the digitalassistant, however, also dependents on the assistant's ability to inferthe correct “actionable intent(s)” from the user request expressed innatural language.

In some examples, in addition to the sequence of words or tokensobtained from STT processing module 730, natural language processingmodule 732 also receives contextual information associated with the userrequest, e.g., from I/O processing module 728. The natural languageprocessing module 732 optionally uses the contextual information toclarify, supplement, and/or further define the information contained inthe candidate text representations received from STT processing module730. The contextual information includes, for example, user preferences,hardware, and/or software states of the user device, sensor informationcollected before, during, or shortly after the user request, priorinteractions (e.g., dialogue) between the digital assistant and theuser, and the like. As described herein, contextual information is, insome examples, dynamic, and changes with time, location, content of thedialogue, and other factors.

In some examples, the natural language processing is based on, e.g.,ontology 760. Ontology 760 is a hierarchical structure containing manynodes, each node representing either an “actionable intent” or a“property” relevant to one or more of the “actionable intents” or other“properties.” As noted above, an “actionable intent” represents a taskthat the digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., it is“actionable” or can be acted on. A “property” represents a parameterassociated with an actionable intent or a sub-aspect of anotherproperty. A linkage between an actionable intent node and a propertynode in ontology 760 defines how a parameter represented by the propertynode pertains to the task represented by the actionable intent node.

In some examples, ontology 760 is made up of actionable intent nodes andproperty nodes. Within ontology 760, each actionable intent node islinked to one or more property nodes either directly or through one ormore intermediate property nodes. Similarly, each property node islinked to one or more actionable intent nodes either directly or throughone or more intermediate property nodes. For example, as shown in FIG.7C, ontology 760 includes a “restaurant reservation” node (i.e., anactionable intent node). Property nodes “restaurant,” “date/time” (forthe reservation), and “party size” are each directly linked to theactionable intent node (i.e., the “restaurant reservation” node).

In addition, property nodes “cuisine,” “price range,” “phone number,”and “location” are sub-nodes of the property node “restaurant,” and areeach linked to the “restaurant reservation” node (i.e., the actionableintent node) through the intermediate property node “restaurant.” Foranother example, as shown in FIG. 7C, ontology 760 also includes a “setreminder” node (i.e., another actionable intent node). Property nodes“date/time” (for setting the reminder) and “subject” (for the reminder)are each linked to the “set reminder” node. Since the property“date/time” is relevant to both the task of making a restaurantreservation and the task of setting a reminder, the property node“date/time” is linked to both the “restaurant reservation” node and the“set reminder” node in ontology 760.

An actionable intent node, along with its linked property nodes, isdescribed as a “domain.” In the present discussion, each domain isassociated with a respective actionable intent, and refers to the groupof nodes (and the relationships there between) associated with theparticular actionable intent. For example, ontology 760 shown in FIG. 7Cincludes an example of restaurant reservation domain 762 and an exampleof reminder domain 764 within ontology 760. The restaurant reservationdomain includes the actionable intent node “restaurant reservation,”property nodes “restaurant,” “date/time,” and “party size,” andsub-property nodes “cuisine,” “price range,” “phone number,” and“location.” Reminder domain 764 includes the actionable intent node “setreminder,” and property nodes “subject” and “date/time.” In someexamples, ontology 760 is made up of many domains. Each domain sharesone or more property nodes with one or more other domains. For example,the “date/time” property node is associated with many different domains(e.g., a scheduling domain, a travel reservation domain, a movie ticketdomain, etc.), in addition to restaurant reservation domain 762 andreminder domain 764.

While FIG. 7C illustrates two example domains within ontology 760, otherdomains include, for example, “find a movie,” “initiate a phone call,”“find directions,” “schedule a meeting,” “send a message,” and “providean answer to a question,” “read a list,” “providing navigationinstructions,” “provide instructions for a task” and so on. A “send amessage” domain is associated with a “send a message” actionable intentnode, and further includes property nodes such as “recipient(s),”“message type,” and “message body.” The property node “recipient” isfurther defined, for example, by the sub-property nodes such as“recipient name” and “message address.”

In some examples, ontology 760 includes all the domains (and henceactionable intents) that the digital assistant is capable ofunderstanding and acting upon. In some examples, ontology 760 ismodified, such as by adding or removing entire domains or nodes, or bymodifying relationships between the nodes within the ontology 760.

In some examples, nodes associated with multiple related actionableintents are clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. Forexample, a “travel” super-domain includes a cluster of property nodesand actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intentnodes related to travel includes “airline reservation,” “hotelreservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,”and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain(e.g., the “travel” super domain) have many property nodes in common.For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airline reservation,”“hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and “find points ofinterest” share one or more of the property nodes “start location,”“destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,” and “partysize.”

In some examples, each node in ontology 760 is associated with a set ofwords and/or phrases that are relevant to the property or actionableintent represented by the node. The respective set of words and/orphrases associated with each node are the so-called “vocabulary”associated with the node. The respective set of words and/or phrasesassociated with each node are stored in vocabulary index 744 inassociation with the property or actionable intent represented by thenode. For example, returning to FIG. 7B, the vocabulary associated withthe node for the property of “restaurant” includes words such as “food,”“drinks,” “cuisine,” “hungry,” “eat,” “pizza,” “fast food,” “meal,” andso on. For another example, the vocabulary associated with the node forthe actionable intent of “initiate a phone call” includes words andphrases such as “call,” “phone,” “dial,” “ring,” “call this number,”“make a call to,” and so on. The vocabulary index 744 optionallyincludes words and phrases in different languages.

Natural language processing module 732 receives the candidate textrepresentations (e.g., text string(s) or token sequence(s)) from STTprocessing module 730, and for each candidate representation, determineswhat nodes are implicated by the words in the candidate textrepresentation. In some examples, if a word or phrase in the candidatetext representation is found to be associated with one or more nodes inontology 760 (via vocabulary index 744), the word or phrase “triggers”or “activates” those nodes. Based on the quantity and/or relativeimportance of the activated nodes, natural language processing module732 selects one of the actionable intents as the task that the userintended the digital assistant to perform. In some examples, the domainthat has the most “triggered” nodes is selected. In some examples, thedomain having the highest confidence value (e.g., based on the relativeimportance of its various triggered nodes) is selected. In someexamples, the domain is selected based on a combination of the numberand the importance of the triggered nodes. In some examples, additionalfactors are considered in selecting the node as well, such as whetherthe digital assistant has previously correctly interpreted a similarrequest from a user.

User data 748 includes user-specific information, such as user-specificvocabulary, user preferences, user address, user's default and secondarylanguages, user's contact list, and other short-term or long-terminformation for each user. In some examples, natural language processingmodule 732 uses the user-specific information to supplement theinformation contained in the user input to further define the userintent. For example, for a user request “invite my friends to mybirthday party,” natural language processing module 732 is able toaccess user data 748 to determine who the “friends” are and when andwhere the “birthday party” would be held, rather than requiring the userto provide such information explicitly in his/her request.

It should be recognized that in some examples, natural languageprocessing module 732 is implemented using one or more machine learningmechanisms (e.g., neural networks). In particular, the one or moremachine learning mechanisms are configured to receive a candidate textrepresentation and contextual information associated with the candidatetext representation. Based on the candidate text representation and theassociated contextual information, the one or more machine learningmechanisms are configured to determine intent confidence scores over aset of candidate actionable intents. Natural language processing module732 can select one or more candidate actionable intents from the set ofcandidate actionable intents based on the determined intent confidencescores. In some examples, an ontology (e.g., ontology 760) is also usedto select the one or more candidate actionable intents from the set ofcandidate actionable intents.

Other details of searching an ontology based on a token string aredescribed in U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/341,743 for “Methodand Apparatus for Searching Using An Active Ontology,” filed Dec. 22,2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

In some examples, once natural language processing module 732 identifiesan actionable intent (or domain) based on the user request, naturallanguage processing module 732 generates a structured query to representthe identified actionable intent. In some examples, the structured queryincludes parameters for one or more nodes within the domain for theactionable intent, and at least some of the parameters are populatedwith the specific information and requirements specified in the userrequest. For example, the user says “Make me a dinner reservation at asushi place at 7.” In this case, natural language processing module 732is able to correctly identify the actionable intent to be “restaurantreservation” based on the user input. According to the ontology, astructured query for a “restaurant reservation” domain includesparameters such as {Cuisine}, {Time}, {Date}, {Party Size}, and thelike. In some examples, based on the speech input and the text derivedfrom the speech input using STT processing module 730, natural languageprocessing module 732 generates a partial structured query for therestaurant reservation domain, where the partial structured queryincludes the parameters {Cuisine=“Sushi”} and {Time=“7 pm”}. However, inthis example, the user's utterance contains insufficient information tocomplete the structured query associated with the domain. Therefore,other necessary parameters such as {Party Size} and {Date} are notspecified in the structured query based on the information currentlyavailable. In some examples, natural language processing module 732populates some parameters of the structured query with receivedcontextual information. For example, in some examples, if the userrequested a sushi restaurant “near me,” natural language processingmodule 732 populates a {location} parameter in the structured query withGPS coordinates from the user device.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 identifiesmultiple candidate actionable intents for each candidate textrepresentation received from STT processing module 730. Further, in someexamples, a respective structured query (partial or complete) isgenerated for each identified candidate actionable intent. Naturallanguage processing module 732 determines an intent confidence score foreach candidate actionable intent and ranks the candidate actionableintents based on the intent confidence scores. In some examples, naturallanguage processing module 732 passes the generated structured query (orqueries), including any completed parameters, to task flow processingmodule 736 (“task flow processor”). In some examples, the structuredquery (or queries) for the m-best (e.g., m highest ranked) candidateactionable intents are provided to task flow processing module 736,where m is a predetermined integer greater than zero. In some examples,the structured query (or queries) for the m-best candidate actionableintents are provided to task flow processing module 736 with thecorresponding candidate text representation(s).

Other details of inferring a user intent based on multiple candidateactionable intents determined from multiple candidate textrepresentations of a speech input are described in U.S. Utilityapplication Ser. No. 14/298,725 for “System and Method for InferringUser Intent from Speech Inputs,” filed Jun. 6, 2014, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Task flow processing module 736 is configured to receive the structuredquery (or queries) from natural language processing module 732, completethe structured query, if necessary, and perform the actions required to“complete” the user's ultimate request. In some examples, the variousprocedures necessary to complete these tasks are provided in task flowmodels 754. In some examples, task flow models 754 include proceduresfor obtaining additional information from the user and task flows forperforming actions associated with the actionable intent.

As described above, in order to complete a structured query, task flowprocessing module 736 needs to initiate additional dialogue with theuser in order to obtain additional information, and/or disambiguatepotentially ambiguous utterances. When such interactions are necessary,task flow processing module 736 invokes dialogue flow processing module734 to engage in a dialogue with the user. In some examples, dialogueflow processing module 734 determines how (and/or when) to ask the userfor the additional information and receives and processes the userresponses. The questions are provided to and answers are received fromthe users through I/O processing module 728. In some examples, dialogueflow processing module 734 presents dialogue output to the user viaaudio and/or visual output, and receives input from the user via spokenor physical (e.g., clicking) responses. Continuing with the exampleabove, when task flow processing module 736 invokes dialogue flowprocessing module 734 to determine the “party size” and “date”information for the structured query associated with the domain“restaurant reservation,” dialogue flow processing module 734 generatesquestions such as “For how many people?” and “On which day?” to pass tothe user. Once answers are received from the user, dialogue flowprocessing module 734 then populates the structured query with themissing information, or pass the information to task flow processingmodule 736 to complete the missing information from the structuredquery.

Once task flow processing module 736 has completed the structured queryfor an actionable intent, task flow processing module 736 proceeds toperform the ultimate task associated with the actionable intent.Accordingly, task flow processing module 736 executes the steps andinstructions in the task flow model according to the specific parameterscontained in the structured query. For example, the task flow model forthe actionable intent of “restaurant reservation” includes steps andinstructions for contacting a restaurant and actually requesting areservation for a particular party size at a particular time. Forexample, using a structured query such as: {restaurant reservation,restaurant=ABC Café, date=3/12/2012, time=7 pm, party size=5}, task flowprocessing module 736 performs the steps of: (1) logging onto a serverof the ABC Café or a restaurant reservation system such as OPENTABLE®,(2) entering the date, time, and party size information in a form on thewebsite, (3) submitting the form, and (4) making a calendar entry forthe reservation in the user's calendar.

In some examples, task flow processing module 736 employs the assistanceof service processing module 738 (“service processing module”) tocomplete a task requested in the user input or to provide aninformational answer requested in the user input. For example, serviceprocessing module 738 acts on behalf of task flow processing module 736to make a phone call, set a calendar entry, invoke a map search, invokeor interact with other user applications installed on the user device,and invoke or interact with third-party services (e.g., a restaurantreservation portal, a social networking website, a banking portal,etc.). In some examples, the protocols and application programminginterfaces (API) required by each service are specified by a respectiveservice model among service models 756. Service processing module 738accesses the appropriate service model for a service and generatesrequests for the service in accordance with the protocols and APIsrequired by the service according to the service model.

For example, if a restaurant has enabled an online reservation service,the restaurant submits a service model specifying the necessaryparameters for making a reservation and the APIs for communicating thevalues of the necessary parameter to the online reservation service.When requested by task flow processing module 736, service processingmodule 738 establishes a network connection with the online reservationservice using the web address stored in the service model, and sends thenecessary parameters of the reservation (e.g., time, date, party size)to the online reservation interface in a format according to the API ofthe online reservation service.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732, dialogue flowprocessing module 734, and task flow processing module 736 are usedcollectively and iteratively to infer and define the user's intent,obtain information to further clarify and refine the user intent, andfinally generate a response (i.e., an output to the user, or thecompletion of a task) to fulfill the user's intent. The generatedresponse is a dialogue response to the speech input that at leastpartially fulfills the user's intent. Further, in some examples, thegenerated response is output as a speech output. In these examples, thegenerated response is sent to speech synthesis processing module 740(e.g., speech synthesizer) where it can be processed to synthesize thedialogue response in speech form. In yet other examples, the generatedresponse is data content relevant to satisfying a user request in thespeech input.

In examples where task flow processing module 736 receives multiplestructured queries from natural language processing module 732, taskflow processing module 736 initially processes the first structuredquery of the received structured queries to attempt to complete thefirst structured query and/or execute one or more tasks or actionsrepresented by the first structured query. In some examples, the firststructured query corresponds to the highest ranked actionable intent. Inother examples, the first structured query is selected from the receivedstructured queries based on a combination of the corresponding speechrecognition confidence scores and the corresponding intent confidencescores. In some examples, if task flow processing module 736 encountersan error during processing of the first structured query (e.g., due toan inability to determine a necessary parameter), the task flowprocessing module 736 can proceed to select and process a secondstructured query of the received structured queries that corresponds toa lower ranked actionable intent. The second structured query isselected, for example, based on the speech recognition confidence scoreof the corresponding candidate text representation, the intentconfidence score of the corresponding candidate actionable intent, amissing necessary parameter in the first structured query, or anycombination thereof.

Speech synthesis processing module 740 is configured to synthesizespeech outputs for presentation to the user. Speech synthesis processingmodule 740 synthesizes speech outputs based on text provided by thedigital assistant. For example, the generated dialogue response is inthe form of a text string. Speech synthesis processing module 740converts the text string to an audible speech output. Speech synthesisprocessing module 740 uses any appropriate speech synthesis technique inorder to generate speech outputs from text, including, but not limited,to concatenative synthesis, unit selection synthesis, diphone synthesis,domain-specific synthesis, formant synthesis, articulatory synthesis,hidden Markov model (HMM) based synthesis, and sinewave synthesis. Insome examples, speech synthesis processing module 740 is configured tosynthesize individual words based on phonemic strings corresponding tothe words. For example, a phonemic string is associated with a word inthe generated dialogue response. The phonemic string is stored inmetadata associated with the word. Speech synthesis processing module740 is configured to directly process the phonemic string in themetadata to synthesize the word in speech form.

In some examples, instead of (or in addition to) using speech synthesisprocessing module 740, speech synthesis is performed on a remote device(e.g., the server system 108), and the synthesized speech is sent to theuser device for output to the user. For example, this can occur in someimplementations where outputs for a digital assistant are generated at aserver system. And because server systems generally have more processingpower or resources than a user device, it is possible to obtain higherquality speech outputs than would be practical with client-sidesynthesis.

Additional details on digital assistants can be found in the U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 12/987,982, entitled “Intelligent AutomatedAssistant,” filed Jan. 10, 2011, and U.S. Utility application Ser. No.13/251,088, entitled “Generating and Processing Task Items ThatRepresent Tasks to Perform,” filed Sep. 30, 2011, the entire disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference.

Content Playback on Multiple Devices

FIGS. 8A-8G illustrate a system 800 for facilitating content playback onmultiple devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, system 800 mayinclude any device described herein, including but not limited todevices 104, 200, 400, and 600 (FIGS. 1, 2A, 4, and 6A-B). Thus, it willbe appreciated that the electronic devices depicted in FIGS. 8A-8G, suchas devices 802, 804, 808, and 810, may be a device of any type, such asa phone, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, wearable device(e.g., smart watch), set-top box, television, voice-enabled speaker,home automation device (e.g., thermostat), digital assistant server,media server, or any combination or sub-combination thereof.Furthermore, the processes described herein may be performed by a serverwith information delivered to and from the device, performed on thedevice, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 8A illustrates a system 800 for facilitating content playback onmultiple devices. In some examples, system 800 includes a user device802, such as a mobile phone. User device 802 may, for example, beassociated with a user. In some examples, system 800 includes one ormore secondary user devices 804, such as a television, set-top-box,voice-enabled speaker, tablet computer, laptop computer, and the like.At least the user device 802 and the one or more secondary user devices804 may be capable of communicating with one or more servers, such as adigital assistant server 808 and a media server 810.

In operation, user device 802 may receive, from one or more secondaryuser devices 804, information 806 associated with media playback. Theinformation 806 associated with media playback may include, for example,at least one identifier associated with a secondary user device 804,such as a device serial number, a network identifier, and the like. Theinformation 806 associated with media playback may further include, forexample, media information corresponding to a secondary user device 804,such as applications installed on a device, one or more owners of adevice, one or more authorized users of a device, media contentdownloaded or stored at a device, media content owned by an owner of adevice (e.g., content the user may own which is not stored on a device).In some examples, the information including media content owned by anowner includes media content previously purchased by a user of a device(e.g., purchased using an application on the device). In some examples,the information may include a viewing history of media content on adevice. For example, viewing history may include identification of aplurality of viewed media items, a time and date for which the userviewed the media items, a number of times the user viewed the mediaitems. In some examples, the information may include media renderingcapabilities of a candidate secondary user device. For example, thesecondary user devices 804 may include a voice-enabled speaker, suchthat the media rendering capabilities for the voice-enabled speakerinclude information regarding audio rendering capabilities, and furtherinclude an indication that the speaker is not capable of renderingvideo. As another example, the secondary user device 804 may include aset-top box or a television, such that the media rendering capabilitiesindicate video resolution capabilities (e.g., 1280×720 pixels, 3840×2160pixels, etc.) or aspect ratio capabilities (e.g., 16:9, 4:3, etc.).

In some examples, the information may include a name of a device, suchas “Living Room TV,” “Bedroom TV,” “Basement Speaker,” and the like. Insome examples, the information may include a location parameter, such as“ground floor,” “main floor,” “upstairs,” “outside the home,” or otherprecise location information (e.g., GPS coordinates or other spatialinformation). In some examples, the information may include informationfrom a user profile including devices associated with the user's home.For example, a plurality of media devices may be included in a profilewhich facilitates communication among the devices within the user'shome, such as a television, set-top-box, speaker, home automationequipment, and other devices. The profile may include data used as theinformation for media playback, such as device names, device locations,device capabilities, user permissions, device owners, authorized users,usage history, and the like.

In some examples, the information 806 associated with media playback maybe received periodically by user device 802. For example, secondary userdevice 804 may periodically send the information to user device 802,such as daily, weekly, monthly, etc. In some examples, the informationmay be sent during periods when devices 802 and/or 804 are idle, such asovernight. In some examples, the information may be sent during periodwhen a user is in proximity of the device or connected to the samenetwork as the device. For example, a user may interact periodicallywith a television at a work location of the user, such as an office. Insome examples, information associated with an office television may besent to the user device when the user device is in proximity of theoffice television, such as within a communication range of the officetelevision. In some examples, information associated with the officetelevision may be sent to the user device when the user device isconnected to the same network as the office television, such as a Wi-Finetwork.

In some examples, referring to FIG. 8B, user device 802 may receive aspeech input 812 from a user. For example, a user may utter naturallanguage speech associated with playing media content on a secondarydevice, such as “Play Star Wars on the TV,” or “Play this on thespeaker,” or “Play this on that.” User input 812 may, for example,include a reference to a user device from user devices 804, such as userdevices within the user's home. In some examples, user input 812 mayinclude a reference to a user device not within the user's home, and/ora device that the user has not yet interacted with. For example, if theuser visits an office building having a conference room TV, the user mayrefer to the TV as “that TV,” “the conference room TV,” “this TV,” andthe like.

In some examples, referring to FIG. 8C, at least the speech request andthe information associated with media playback is transmitted to asecond electronic device. User device 802 may, for example, sendtransmission 814 to digital assistant server 808. In some examples,transmission 814 may include at least the speech request and theinformation associated with media playback. For example, the user mayutter “Play Star Wars on the TV.” User devices 804 may be associatedwith devices in the user's home, and may additionally include otherdevices that the user has interacted with, such as an office television,and a voice-enabled speaker owned by another user, for example. In turn,the transmission 814 may include the speech request “Play Star Wars onthe TV,” and may further include the information associated with mediaplayback received from the user devices 804, including the devices inthe user's home, the office television, and the speaker owned by anotheruser, for example.

In some examples, a determination is made whether the speech requestcorresponds to a user intent to play media content on a secondary userdevice. For example, after receiving the speech request and theinformation associated with media playback, the digital assistant server808 may determine whether the speech request corresponds to a userintent to play media content on a secondary user device. Determininguser intent of the speech request may include, for example, performingnatural language processing on the speech request, as described herein.For example, one or more processing modules may utilize data and modelsto process natural language input received by the digital assistantserver 808 to determine the user's intent. In some examples, determiningwhether the speech request corresponds to a user intent to play mediacontent on a secondary user device may include determining that thespeech request include at least one reference to a playing media item,at least one reference to a media item, and/or at least one reference toa secondary user device.

In some examples, at least one reference to playing a media item mayinclude terms such as “play,” “broadcast,” “start,” “replay,” and thelike. In some examples, at least one reference to a media item mayinclude a specific reference to media, such as a movie title, a TV showseries, a live broadcast title, a sports game, a song, an album, anartist, and the like. In some examples, at least one reference to amedia item may only include a general reference, such as “this” or“that.” For example, if the user is currently viewing media on a firstdevice (e.g., a mobile phone), the user may refer to the media playingon the first device as “this” or “that.” In some examples, at least onereference to a secondary user device may include a specific reference toa device, such as television, set-top box, speaker, tablet computer,laptop computer, mobile phone, and the like. For example, the speechrequest may include references such as “Living Room TV,” “BasementSpeaker,” “the conference room TV,” and the like. In some examples, atleast one reference to a secondary user device may include a generalreference to a secondary user device, such as “that TV,” “this speaker,”“that tablet,” and the like. In some examples, at least one reference toa secondary user device may only include a general reference, such as“this” or “that.” For example, if the user is currently located in aliving room of the user's home, the user may utter “that” in order torefer to a device named “Living Room TV.” In some examples, a requestedmedia item is determined based on the speech request. For example,digital assistant server 808 may determine a requested media item basedon the speech request included in transmission 814. As an example, thespeech request may include “Play Star Wars Episode One on that,” suchthat the requested media item is determined to be associated with themovie series “Star Wars,” and is determined to correspond to the movietitle “Episode One” of the “Star Wars” series.

In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the speechrequest corresponds to a user intent to play media content on asecondary user device, digital assistant server 808 may determine anidentifier associated with the secondary user device. For example,digital assistant server 808 may determine a device identifiercorresponding to a device referenced by the user in the speech request.The speech request may include, for example, a reference to “Living RoomTV,” and the information associated with media playback may include aplurality of device identifiers. The plurality of device identifiers maybe associated with a profile for devices in the user's home, including,for example “Living Room TV,” “Basement TV,” “Bedroom Speaker,” and thelike. Digital assistant server may determine that the reference “LivingRoom TV” included in the speech input corresponds to the device named“Living Room TV” included in the information associated with mediaplayback, for example. In some examples, the determined identifiercorresponding to “Living Room TV” may correspond to a device serialnumber, network identifier, and the like.

In some examples, one or more candidate user devices are determinedbased on the speech request and the information associated with mediaplayback. For example, the user may utter “Play Star Wars Episode One onthat.” The reference to “that” may be ambiguous, for example, such thata plurality of candidate secondary devices are determined as possiblycorresponding to “that.” For example, the user may be located the user'shome, and the user's home may have multiple media devices, such asmultiple televisions and multiple speakers. Based on the media deviceslocated in the user's home, a plurality of candidate secondary userdevices are determined as possibly corresponding to “that,” such as“Living Room TV,” “Basement TV,” “Bedroom Speaker,” and “BathroomSpeaker,” for example.

In some examples, an identifier associated with the secondary userdevice is determined based on at least the determined media itemrequested by the user and a plurality of candidate secondary userdevices determined as possibly corresponding to a user referenceddevice. For example, a user may have two media devices in the user'shome, including a television and a speaker. Upon determination that theuser intends to view “Star Wars Episode One,” and that the candidatesecondary user devices include a television and a speaker, for example,determination is made with sufficient confidence that the secondary userdevice to which the user intends to view content is the television,rather than the speaker. As an example, in the case where the userintends to view video content, candidate secondary user devicesincluding speakers may be eliminated from further consideration aspotential devices to at which content should be played. As anotherexample, in the case where the user intends to listen to only audiocontent (e.g., a song), candidate secondary user devices includingtelevisions may be eliminated from further consideration as potentialdevices to which content should be played at. In response to eliminatingsuch devices from consideration, and in the case where only one deviceremains as a candidate user device, for example, such device may beselected as the device to play the requested media item.

In some examples, determining an identifier associated with a secondaryuser device includes determining a confidence level for each candidateuser device of a plurality of candidate user devices. For example, thedetermined confidence level may indicate a suitability for playing arequested media item at a respective candidate secondary user device. Insome examples, the confidence level for each candidate secondary userdevice is determined at least in part based on the informationassociated with media playback. For example, the requested media itemmay include video content, and the candidate secondary user devices mayinclude multiple televisions, such as a living room television and abedroom television. The information associated with media playback mayinclude, for example, usage history information indicating that the useralways requests playback at bedroom television for video content, andhas never requested playback at the living room television. As a result,the bedroom television may be associated with a higher confidence levelthan the living room television for playing the video content, forexample.

As another example, the information associated with media playback mayinclude information corresponding to media content owned by an owner ofa respective device or media content stored on a respective device. Therequested media item may include, for example, reference to a specificmedia item, such as “Star Wars Episode One,” for example. As a result,devices having access to the specific media item, such as based on userownership of the media item or the media item being stored on thedevice, for example, may be associated with higher confidence levelsthan devices that do not have access to the media item. For example, theuser may have purchased and downloaded the movie “Star Wars Episode One”using a television located in the living room, such that the movie isstored on the user's living room television or a set-top box associatedwith the living room television. Furthermore, the user's bedroomtelevision may not include the movie in storage and may not otherwisehave access to the movie, for example. As a result, the living roomtelevision may be associated with a higher confidence level than thebedroom television.

In some examples, a determination is made whether at least one of theconfidence levels exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein a candidatesecondary device having a highest confidence level of the plurality ofcandidate secondary devices may be selected. In accordance with adetermination that at least one of the determined the confidence levelsexceeds the predetermined threshold, an identifier associated with thecandidate secondary user device having the highest confidence level isselected for media playback. For example, a plurality of candidate userdevices may be associated with a plurality of confidence levels, such asa first television associated with a 90% confidence level, a secondtelevision associated with a 85% confidence level, and a tablet computerassociated with a 50% confidence level. In some examples, thepredetermined threshold may correspond to an 80% confidence threshold,such that the first television associated with a 90% confidence leveland a second television associated with a 85% confidence level areconsidered, and an identifier associated with the first television isused for media playback based on the highest confidence level. Thepredetermined threshold may further be dynamically adjusted based on oneor more conditions, or may be set by a user, for example.

In some examples, referring now to FIG. 9, a process 900 for displayinga user interface for content playback on multiple devices is depicted.In some examples, user device 902 includes a display of a plurality ofaffordances corresponding to a plurality of candidate secondary userdevices. In some examples, in accordance with a determination that atleast one of the determined the confidence levels does not exceed apredetermined threshold, identifiers are transmitted to the user device,wherein the identifiers are associated with a plurality of candidatesecondary user devices. For example, based on a speech request 904, aplurality of affordances 906 may be displayed on user device 902. As anexample, a speech request 904 may include the speech “Play Star Wars onthe TV.” As a result, a plurality of candidate user devices may bedetermined, which may each be associated with a plurality of confidencelevels, such as a first television associated with a 60% confidencelevel, a second television associated with a 50% confidence level, athird television associated with a 40% confidence level, and a fourthtelevision associated with a 30% confidence level. In some examples, thepredetermined threshold may correspond to an 80% confidence threshold,such that none of the first, second, third, or fourth televisionsexceeds the 80% confidence threshold. As a result, with reference now toFIG. 8D, user device 802 may receive information 816 from digitalassistant server 808, where information 816 includes identifierscorresponding to the first, second, third, and fourth televisions.

In some examples, referring back to FIG. 9, the user may activate one ofthe affordances 906. For example, the user may activate affordance 906corresponding to “Basement TV” resulting in a selection of an identifiercorresponding to a television located in the basement of the user'shome. Referring back to FIG. 8D, in some examples, the selectedidentifier is sent from user device 802 to digital assistant server 808via transmission 818. As a result, the identifier associated with thesecondary user device is determined based on the selected identifier,such as an identifier associated with a television located in thebasement of the user's home, for example.

In some examples, in accordance with determining the identifierassociated with the secondary user device, an instruction for initiatinga standby state is transmitted to the secondary user device. Forexample, digital assistant server 808 may determine a device having ahighest confidence level, or the user device may provide a selection ofan intended device to the digital assistant server 808. As a result, aninstruction for initiating a standby state is sent to the secondary userdevice in order to prepare the secondary user device for receivingfurther instructions regarding media playback. For example, theinstruction for initiating a standby state may cause the device to poweron, may cause the device to exit an idle state and enter a playbackstate, and/or may otherwise cause the device to prepare for mediaplayback. In some examples, in accordance with determining an identifierassociated with the secondary user device, the information associatedwith media playback is at least removed from digital assistant server808. For example, the information associated with media playback may beused in order to determine the user device to which the user intends toplayback media content, and once the device is determined, theinformation is removed from digital assistant server 808, such aserasing the information from memory.

In some examples, referring now to FIG. 10, a process 1000 fordisplaying user interfaces for content playback on multiple devices isdepicted. For example, based on a speech request 1004, a determinationis made that the speech request corresponds to a plurality of candidatemedia items. As a result, plurality of affordances 1006 may be displayedon user device 1002 corresponding to the plurality of media items. As anexample, a speech request 1004 may include the speech “Play Star Wars onthe TV.” As a result, a plurality of candidate media items may bedetermined, and each candidate media item may be associated with aplurality of confidence levels. For example, in response to determiningthat the speech request includes reference to media corresponding to“Star Wars,” a determination is made that multiple media itemscorrespond to the title “Star Wars,” such as various movie titles in the“Star Wars” series. As a result, the plurality of media itemscorresponding to the various movie titles in the “Star Wars” series areeach associated with a confidence level that does not exceed apredetermined confidence level for media playback. The plurality ofdisplayed affordances 1006 may then correspond to the plurality of mediaitems based on the speech request, for example.

In some examples, a selection of an affordance of the plurality ofaffordances is received from the user. For example, the user mayactivate an affordance via a touch input on the display screen of userdevice 1002. As another example, the user may provide a speech input torefer to and select the affordance. For example, the user may utter thephrase “Star Wars, Episode II,” corresponding to one of the displayedaffordances 1006. The user may utter an ambiguous phrase such as “thesecond one” or “the last one,” for example. Using the displayedaffordances as context, determination may be made that “the second one”refers to a second item in a list of displayed items, such as “StarWars, Episode II” corresponding to one of the displayed affordances1006. Based on the user selection of a displayed affordance, a mediaidentifier corresponding to the user selection of a displayed affordanceis transmitted, for example, to the digital assistant server 808.

In some examples, each of the plurality of displayed affordances 1006 isassociated with a brief description, including, for example, informationcorresponding to the respective media item, such as a brief plotsummary, rating information, actor information, album information,artist information, and the like. In some examples, each of theplurality of displayed affordances 1006 is associated with a respectiveindicator 1008. In accordance with a user selection of a respectiveindicator 1008, a user interface may be displayed corresponding to arespective media item. For example, the user interface may includeadditional information corresponding to a respective media item, such asa full description of the media item, and additional affordances to viewfurther content associated with the media item, such as media previews(e.g., movie trailers or song clips), actor interviews, director's cuts,related media content, and the like. In some examples, the userinterface may be displayed on a secondary user device. For example, theuser may select an indicator 1008 displayed on user device 1002, suchthat the user interface including additional information is displayed ona previously identified secondary user device to which the user intendsto play the requested media item (e.g., a living room TV). The user mayfurther interact with the user interface displayed on the secondary userdevice by manipulating one or more controls (not depicted) displayed onuser device 1002.

In some examples, referring now to FIG. 8E, a first media request and asecond media request may be transmitted. For example, the first andsecond media requests may be transmitted upon determining the identifierassociated with a secondary user device, such as television 804 a. Insome examples, a first media request 820 may include a sender identifiercorresponding to the user device, such as user device 802. In someexamples, the second media request 822 may include a sender identifiercorresponding to the identifier associated with the secondary userdevice, such as television 804 a. In some examples, the first mediarequest 820 and the second media request 822 may be transmitted from thedigital assistant server 808 to the media server 810. In some examples,the first media request 820 and the second media request 822 may betransmitted simultaneously, and each request may include the samerequested media item based on the speech request. As a result, the firstand second media requests may include parallel requests to media server810, such that the requests emulate requests originating from the userdevice 802 and the secondary user device 804 a, for example.

In some examples, referring now to FIG. 8F, results based on at leastthe first media request and the second media request are received. Forexample, results 824 may be received by digital assistant server 808from media server 810. In some examples, the results include one or moreparameters which indicate suitability for playing the requested mediaitem at a secondary user device, such as secondary user device 804 a.For example, the results may include a parameter indicating whether therequested media item is suitable to be played on either the user deviceand/or the secondary user device. For example, if the user devicecorresponds to a mobile phone, the parameter may indicate that videocontent is capable of being played on the mobile phone. The parametersmay indicate further details regarding video playback capabilities, forexample, whether the video content would be reduced in quality whenbeing played back on either the mobile phone or a secondary user device(e.g., a television or a tablet computer). As another example, if theuser device corresponds to a voice-enabled speaker, the parameter mayindicate that video content is not capable of being played on thevoice-enabled speaker, but audio is capable of being played back on thespeaker. The parameters may indicate further details regarding audioplayback capabilities, for example, whether the audio quality would bereduced when being played back on the voice-enabled speaker.

In some examples, the results may include a parameter indicating whetherthe requested media item is owned on either the user device and/or thesecondary user device. For example, a user may own a media item based ona previous purchase of the media item or a transfer of the media itemfrom another device, for example. As another example, the media item maybe created by the user, such that the user owns the media item (e.g., avideo created on the user's mobile phone). Ownership of a media item mayinclude storage of the media item on a user device, for example. Asanother example, where the user has previously purchased a media item,ownership of a media item may include the capability of the media itemto be accessed by the user device from another source, such as a mediaserver, without requiring the user to purchase the media item.

In some example, the results may include a parameter indicating whetherthe requested media item is currently playing on the user device. Arequested media item currently being played on the user device mayinclude, for example, video content or audio content corresponding tothe requested media item and currently being played back on a mobiledevice. In some examples, the user may be currently listening to a songfrom an album stored on the mobile device. In some examples, the usermay be currently watching a movie using a third party application on amobile device. For example, the user may provide a speech request at amobile phone to play media content, such as “Play this on the TV.” Theambiguous term “this” may have been resolved by the digital assistantserver to the movie “Star Wars Episode One,” based on contextinformation on the mobile device, for example. The results 824 returnedfrom the media server 810 may indicate that the user is currentlywatching the requested media item on the mobile phone, such as the movie“Star Wars Episode One.”

In some examples, the user may provide a speech request at a mobilephone to play media content, such as “Play this on the speaker.” Theambiguous term “this” may have been resolved by the digital assistantserver to a song by the artist “Dave Matthews Band,” based on contextinformation on the mobile device, for example. The results 824 returnedfrom the media server 810 may indicate that the user is not currentlyplaying any media content on the mobile device, such as the requestedmedia item, for example. In some examples, the parameter may indicatethat the requested media item is not currently playing on the mobiledevice, although a reference to the requested media item is beingdisplayed at the mobile device. For example, the results 824 may furtherindicate that the user is currently viewing a list of songs included inan album, such as an album by the artist “Dave Matthews Band.”

In some examples, the results may include a parameter indicating aviewing history of the requested media item. For example, the user mayprovide a speech request at the user device 802 to play media content,such as “Play this on the TV.” The ambiguous term “this” may have beenresolved by the digital assistant server 808 to a requested media itemcorresponding to a specific movie. In some examples, the results mayinclude a parameter indicating that the user typically views therequested media item on the identified secondary user device, such as aliving room television. In some examples, the results may include aparameter indicating that the user typically views the requested mediaitem, and similar media items (e.g., video content), by first watchingthe media item on the user device (e.g., mobile phone), and thentransferring the playback of the media item to the identified secondaryuser device (e.g., the living room television). In some examples, theresults may include a parameter indicating that the user always viewscontent directly on the identified secondary user device, and nevertransfers playback of media items to the identified secondary userdevice.

In some examples, an instruction for media playback on the secondaryuser device 804 a is determined, which includes comparing the parametersindicating suitability for playing the requested media item at thesecondary user device 804 a. The parameters included in the results 824returned from media server 810 may, for example, be associated withdifferent weights or other factors which assist in the determination ofthe instruction for media playback on the secondary user device 804 a.As an example, a parameter indicating whether a requested media item iscurrently playing on user device 802 may be associated with a higherweight than a parameter indicating whether the requested media item isowned on either the user device 802 or the secondary user device 804 a.In some examples, a parameter indicating that a requested media item isnot capable of being played by transferring playback from user device802 to the secondary user device 804 a may be associated with a higherweight than a parameter indicating whether a requested media item iscurrently playing on user device 802.

In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the receivedresults include a parameter indicating that the requested media item iscurrently playing on the user device, an instruction for media playbackmay include a command to play the requested media item currently playingon the user device. For example, the command to play the requested mediaitem currently playing on the user device 802 may include a command tostream audio or video content currently playing at user device 802 tosecondary user device 804. The command to stream the currently playingcontent may include, for example, one or more identifiers correspondingto information about the content currently playing at the user device802. For example, the one or more identifiers may correspond toinformation such as universal resource locators, timestamp information,media type information, and the like. The command to play the requestedmedia item currently playing on user device 802 may include any otherinformation necessary in order to enable a secondary user device, suchas secondary user device 804 a, to stream audio or video contentcurrently playing at user device 802.

In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the receivedresults include a parameter indicating that the requested media item isnot currently playing on the user device, an instruction for mediaplayback may include a command to obtain the requested media item forplayback at the secondary user device. For example, the command toobtain the requested media item for playback at the secondary userdevice may include a command to obtain the requested media item from amedia server, such as media server 810 or another media server. Forexample, the speech request at user device 802 may include the command“Play Star Wars Episode One on the TV.” In accordance with adetermination that the user device 802 is not currently playing anyaudio or video content, the command to obtain the requested media itemfor playback at the secondary user device may include a command toobtain a media item corresponding to “Star Wars Episode One” from amedia server which has access to the media item. As another example, theuser may have previously purchased a media item corresponding to “StarWars Episode One,” such that the media item is stored on the user'stelevision or a set-top-box associated with the television. As a result,the command to obtain the requested media item for playback at thesecondary user device may include a command to obtain the requestedmedia item from a storage on the user's television or the set-top-boxassociated with the television.

In some examples, referring to FIG. 8G, the instruction for mediaplayback on a secondary user device is received at the user device, anda task is performed based on the instruction. For example, user device802 may receive instruction 826 for media playback from digitalassistant server 808. In some examples, at least one task is performedbased on the instruction for media playback. For example, the at leastone task may include transmitting command 828 from user device 802 tosecondary user device 804 a. In some examples, the at least one task mayinclude generating and/or forwarding the command 828. For example, thecommand 828 may be generated by user device 802 based on the instruction826 for media playback. In some examples, the command 828 may beincluded in the instruction for media playback and forwarded tosecondary user device 804 a.

In some examples, in accordance with a determination that instruction826 for media playback includes an instruction to output a requestedmedia item currently playing on the user device 802, user device 802 maytransmit, to secondary user device 804 a, a command 828 to play therequested media item currently playing on the user device 802. In someexamples, in accordance with a determination that instruction 826 formedia playback includes an instruction to output a requested media itemnot currently playing on the user device 802, user device 802 maytransmit, to secondary user device 804 a, a command 828 to play therequested media item at secondary user device 804 a. In some examples,the command to obtain the requested media item for playback at thesecondary user device may include a command to obtain a media item froma media server which has access to the media item. In some examples, thecommand to obtain the requested media item for playback at the secondaryuser device may include a command to obtain the requested media itemfrom a storage on the user's television or the set-top-box associatedwith the television, for example.

In some examples, performing least one task based on the instruction formedia playback includes determining whether the user is authorized toestablish a connection with a secondary user device. In some examples,authorization to establish a connection with a secondary user device,such as secondary user device 804 a, may be based on user permissionsset by an owner of the secondary user device. For example, if an ownerof the secondary user device 804 a sets a parameter to indicate that theuser device 802 corresponds to an authorized user of the secondary userdevice 804 a, then determination is made that the user of user device802 is authorized to establish a connection with the secondary userdevice 804 a. In some examples, authorization to establish a connectionwith a secondary user device may be required if a user has not yetinteracted with a secondary user device, or if the user has interactedwith the secondary user device below a threshold number of times. Forexample, if the user device 802 has not yet interacted with secondaryuser device 804 a, or if the user device 802 has interacted with thesecondary user device 804 below a threshold number of times, thendetermination is made that the user device 802 is not authorized toestablish a connection to the secondary user device 804 a.

In some examples, referring now to FIG. 11, a process 1100 fordisplaying user interfaces for content playback on multiple devices isdepicted. For example, in accordance with a determination that the useris not authorized to establish a connection to the secondary userdevice, a first passcode is generated at the secondary user device. Thesecondary user device 1104 may, for example, display passcode 1106. Thepasscode may be randomly generated, for example. In some examples, auser interface is generated at user device 1102, including userinterface elements 1108 corresponding to a passcode entry area. Forexample, the user interface may include affordances 1110 representingnumerical characters, such that the user may activate the affordances tocause a user-entered passcode to be generated and displayed via userinterface elements 1108 corresponding to passcode entry area. Forexample, an input representing a passcode may be received from the uservia affordances 1110. In some examples, in accordance with adetermination that displayed passcode 1106 and the user-entered passcode1108 are the same, determination is made that the user of user device1102 is authorized to establish a connection to the secondary userdevice 1104. As a result of determining that the user is authorized toestablish a connection to secondary user device 1104, at least onecommand based on the instruction for media playback is transmitted fromuser device 1102 to secondary user device 1104, for example.

In some examples, performing at least one task based on the instructionfor media playback includes determining whether user authorization isrequired to view a requested media item associated with the mediaidentifier. For example, a user may have set parental controls, suchthat authentication is required in order to view specific media items.For example, a requested media item may correspond to media containingone or more indications of subject matter not suitable for children,such as violence. In some examples, in accordance with a determinationthat user authorization is required to view a requested media item, aprompt for authentication information is displayed on a user device. Forexample, the prompt may include a request to provide authenticationcredentials, such as a passcode, a fingerprint identification, a facialrecognition identification, a voiceprint identification, and the like.In response to the prompt, authorization information may be receivedfrom the user, such that playback of the requested media item commencesat the secondary user device as a result of validating the authorizationinformation. For example, in response to successful validation of theauthorization information, a command corresponding to the instructionfor media playback is transmitted to the secondary electronic device.

In some examples, performing at least one task based on the instructionfor media playback includes determining whether a user is required topurchase a requested media item in order to commence playback of themedia item. For example, certain media items may be played on varioususer devices without requiring the user to purchase the media item, suchas content from the internet, free content from various online mediastores, or user created content on a user device, for example. Certainmedia items may be required to be purchased by the user prior to viewingthe media item, for example, such as specific movies, songs, albums, andthe like. In accordance with a determination that the user is requiredto purchase a requested media item in order to commence playback of themedia item, the user may be prompted for authorization information inorder to commence playback of the media. For example, prompting the userfor authorization information may include displaying a user interface onthe user device, such as a media details page with information about therequested media item, including a detailed description, ratingsinformation, media previews, and the like. The user interface mayfurther include an option to purchase the media item, such thatactivating the option to purchase the media item may cause a paymentuser interface to be displayed. The payment user interface may furtherpermit a user to enter payment information (e.g., credit/debit carddetails) in order to authorize a purchase of the media item. In someexamples, the various user interfaces to facilitate payment for a mediaitem may be displayed on the user device, on the secondary user device,or may be displayed on both the user device and secondary user device.For example, a user interface may be displayed on the user device (e.g.,mobile phone) including affordances to permit a user to enter paymentinformation, wherein a user interface is displayed on the secondary userdevice (e.g., television) to display media item details and display theentry of payment information corresponding to the entry of paymentinformation at the user device.

In some examples, referring now to FIG. 12, a process 1200 fordisplaying user interfaces for content playback on multiple devices isdepicted. For example, at least one task is performed based on theinstruction for media playback, including displaying a plurality ofaffordances based on information corresponding to media currentlyplaying at the secondary user device. For example, a user may provide aspeech request to user device 1202, such as “Play the Comedy Show on theTV.” In response to transmitting a command to secondary user device 1204to play the requested media item as described herein, playback of therequested media item may commence in accordance with the command. Forexample, the command may cause the secondary electronic device 1204 toplay media content currently playing on user device 1202, or may causesecondary electronic device 1204 to obtain the media content fromanother source. In some examples, in response to playback of the media,information corresponding to media currently playing at secondary userdevice 1204 is transmitted to user device 1202.

In some examples, a plurality of affordances may be displayed at userdevice 1202 based on the received information. For example, a mediadetails affordance 1206 may be displayed, including informationregarding the media content currently playing on secondary user device1204. The media details affordance 1206 may include, for example, one ormore media items (e.g., photos) corresponding to the currently playingmedia, such as a movie poster, album cover, and the like. The mediadetails affordance 1206 may further be activated by the user to causeadditional information to be displayed related to the currently playingmedia. In some examples, a time affordance 1208 may be provided toindicate a current playback time of the media item. The time affordance1208 may include, for example, a start time, current time, and end timeof the media content. In some examples, a user may interact with timeaffordance 1208 in order to adjust the currently playback position ofthe media item on secondary user device 1204, for example, by touchingand/or dragging on current time affordance 1210. In some examples, timeadjustment affordances 1212 may be displayed. Activation by a user oftime adjustment affordances 1212 may, for example, cause the playbackposition of media content being played on secondary user device 1204 torewind, fast forward, and/or pause. In some examples, activation of timeadjustment affordances 1212 may cause the playback position to rewind orfast forward a predetermined amount (e.g., 15 seconds). In some example,a remote-control affordance 1214 may cause a remote-control userinterface to be displayed (not depicted). For example, theremote-control user interface may include additional affordances foradjusting media playback, viewing media information, navigatingadditional interfaces on the secondary user device 1204, and the like.

In some examples, performing at least one task based on the instructionfor media playback includes adjusting one or more parameters associatedwith one or more additional devices. For example, a brightness level ofat least one light source associated with the secondary user device maybe adjusted. A user's home may include, for example, one or more lightsources which are identified in a user profile for the user's home.Adjustment of a brightness level of a light source may include dimmingthe light source prior to or at the same time as the media playbackcommences at a secondary user device. For example, the lights within theliving room of a user's home may be dimmed when playback begins at thesecondary user device. In some examples, the audio level of deviceslocated in a same room as the secondary user device may be reduced priorto or at the same time as the media playback commences at a secondaryuser device. For example, the volume level associated with one or morespeakers in the living room of the user's home may be reduced whenplayback begins at the secondary device. In some examples, audiocorresponding to the media being played at the secondary user device maybe transmitted to speakers in a same room as the secondary user device.

FIG. 13 illustrates process 1300 for content playback on multipledevices, according to various examples. Process 1300 is performed, forexample, using one or more electronic devices implementing a digitalassistant. In some examples, process 1300 is performed using aclient-server system (e.g., system 100), and the blocks of process 1300are divided up in any manner between the server (e.g., DA server 106)and a client device. In other examples, the blocks of process 1300 aredivided up between the server and multiple client devices (e.g., amobile phone and a smart watch). Thus, while portions of process 1300are described herein as being performed by particular devices of aclient-server system, it will be appreciated that process 1300 is not solimited. In other examples, process 1300 is performed using only aclient device (e.g., user device 104) or only multiple client devices.In process 1300, some blocks are, optionally, combined, the order ofsome blocks is, optionally, changed, and some blocks are, optionally,omitted. In some examples, additional steps may be performed incombination with the process 1300.

At block 1302, the electronic device receives, from one or more userdevices, information associated with media playback. In some examples,the information associated with media playback includes at least oneidentifier associated with at least one candidate secondary user deviceof the one or more user devices and media information corresponding tothe at least one candidate secondary user device. In some examples, themedia information corresponding to the at least one candidate secondaryuser device includes at least one of an identification of an owner of acandidate secondary user device, an identification of media contentowned by an owner of a candidate secondary device, an identification ofone or more authorized users of a candidate secondary user device, aviewing history of media content on a candidate secondary user device,and media rendering capabilities of a candidate secondary user device.By receiving the information associated with media playback, the systemoptimizes playback of media content on a secondary device by ensuringthat requisite information regarding secondary devices is received by afirst device. For example, the system leverages existing networks, suchas a home WiFi network, in order to determine possible devices to whicha user may choose to play content to. In turn, the system ensures thatinformation regarding such devices (e.g., a television set-top box) isreceived at a potential initiating device (e.g., a mobile phone) priorto reception of any playback commands at the initiating device. Thisimproves system efficiency and user experience by ensuring thatnecessary information for potential playback commands is ready to beutilized once a playback command is received.

At block 1304, the electronic device receives, from a user, a speechinput for a media item. At block 1306, the electronic devices transmits,to a second electronic device, at least the speech request and theinformation associated with media playback. In some examples, inaccordance with transmitting, to the second electronic device, at leastthe speech request and the information associated with media playback,the electronic device receives, from the second electronic device, aplurality of device identifiers corresponding to a plurality ofcandidate secondary user devices, wherein the electronic device displaysa plurality of affordances corresponding to the plurality of candidatesecondary user devices. In some examples, the electronic devicereceives, from the user, a selection of an affordance from the pluralityof affordances, wherein the electronic device transmits, to the secondelectronic device, a device identifier corresponding to the selectedaffordance. By displaying affordances and receiving a user selection ofan affordance corresponding to a candidate secondary device, the systemensures that a correct candidate secondary device is selected forplayback in the event that a candidate user device cannot be chosen witha predetermined confidence. For example, when the user asks to playcontent on a television, although there are two televisions that theuser regularly plays to, the system may be unable to determine whichtelevision the user intends to play content to. Thus, the systemimproves user experience by verifying with the user which device theuser intends to play content to. These features avoid scenarios where anincorrect device is chosen for playback, and thus improve userexperience when playing content to a secondary device.

In some examples, in accordance with transmitting, to the secondelectronic device, at least the speech request and the informationassociated with media playback, the electronic device receives, from thesecond electronic device, a plurality of media identifiers correspondingto a plurality of media items, wherein the electronic device displays aplurality of affordances corresponding to the plurality of media items.In some examples, the electronic device receives, from the user, aselection of an affordance from the plurality of affordancescorresponding to the plurality of media items, wherein the electronicdevice transmits, to the second electronic device, a media identifiercorresponding to the selected affordance. In some examples, each of thedisplayed affordances include an indicator, wherein the electronicdevice receives, from the user, a selection of an indicatorcorresponding to a displayed affordance, wherein in accordance withreceiving the selection of the indicator corresponding to the displayedaffordance, the electronic device displays a user interface associatedwith a media item corresponding to the selected indicator. By displayingaffordances corresponding to a plurality of media items, the systemimproves media playback if a user reference to a media item isambiguous. For example, if a user generally refers to a series titlewithout specifying a season and episode, the system provides the userwith options to further refine the user request. Furthermore, the systemprovides the user with additional options to view details about eachspecific media item (e.g., a plot summary for a specific episode). Thesefeatures improve media content delivery and user experience by allowinga user to choose specific media items based on a general request, and tolearn more about media content.

At block 1308, the electronic device receives, based on at least thespeech request and the information associated with media playback, aninstruction for media playback on a secondary user device. In someexamples, the electronic device determines whether the instruction formedia playback includes an instruction to output, at the secondary userdevice, a requested media item currently playing on the electronicdevice, wherein in accordance with a determination that the instructionfor media playback includes an instruction to output, at the secondaryuser device, a requested media item currently playing on the electronicdevice, the electronic device transmits to the secondary user device, acommand to play the requested media item currently playing on theelectronic device. In some examples, the electronic device determineswhether the instruction for media playback includes an instruction tooutput, at the secondary user device, a requested media item notcurrently playing on the electronic device, wherein in accordance with adetermination that the instruction for media playback includes aninstruction to output, at the secondary user device, a requested mediaitem not currently playing on the electronic device, the electronicdevice transmits, to the secondary user device, a command to play therequested media item at the secondary user device. In some examples, thecommand to play the requested media item at the secondary user deviceincludes a command to obtain the requested media item from a mediaserver. In some examples, the command to play the requested media itemat the secondary user device includes a command to obtain the requestedmedia item from a storage on the secondary user device. By determiningwhether the instruction includes a command to play media currentlyplaying on the electronic device, the system intelligently handles mediaplayback based on various scenarios. For example, if the user iscurrently watching the requested media on a first device (e.g., mobilephone), the system may determine that the user desires to continuewatching such media content on a secondary device (e.g., television). Asanother example, if the user is not currently watching the requestedmedia on a first device, the system may determine that the user desiresto begin watching such media content on a secondary device, and thusfacilitates obtaining the media for playback on the secondary device(e.g., purchasing the media content, obtaining the content from storage,etc.). These features improve user experience and system efficiency byintelligently obtaining media from various sources depending on thestate of multiple devices.

At block 1310, the electronic device performs at least one task based onthe instruction for media playback. In some examples, performing atleast one task based on the instruction for media playback comprisesdetermining whether the user is authorized to establish a connectionwith the secondary user device, wherein in accordance with adetermination that the user is not authorized to establish a connectionto the secondary user device, the electronic device causes a firstpasscode to be generated at the secondary user device. In some examples,the electronic device receives, from the user, an input corresponding toa second passcode, wherein in accordance with a determination that thefirst passcode and the second passcode are the same, the electronicdevices transmits, to the secondary user device, at least one commandbased on the instruction for media playback. By determining whether auser entered passcode is the same as a passcode displayed on a secondarydevice, the system provides verification that the user attempting toplay content on the secondary media device is a user who is able to viewthe secondary user device. For example, the system eliminates thepossibility of a user who is not able to view the device (e.g., a userin another room or another home) being able to control playback on suchdevice. In turn, the system improves user experience by ensuring thatcertain users are not able to remotely control a secondary device.

In some examples, the instruction for media playback on a secondary userdevice includes a media identifier, wherein performing at least one taskbased on the instruction for media playback comprises determiningwhether user authorization is required to view a requested media itemassociated with the media identifier, wherein in accordance with adetermination that user authorization is required to view a requestedmedia item associated with the media identifier, the electronic deviceprompts the user for authentication information. In some examples, theelectronic device receives, from the user, authorization information inorder to commence media playback of the requested media item, whereinthe electronic device causes playback of the requested media item tocommence at the secondary user device based on the authorizationinformation. By prompting the user for authentication information whenrequired to view media content, the system improves user experience byensuring that only authorized users can facilitate playback on mediacontent on a secondary device. For example, the features may permitcertain users to enter parameters, such as parental controls, in orderto prohibit other users, such as children, from accessing inappropriatecontent.

In some examples, the instruction for media playback on a secondary userdevice includes a media identifier, wherein performing at least one taskbased on the instruction for media playback comprises transmitting, tothe secondary user device, the media identifier, wherein the electronicdevice receives, from the secondary user device, informationcorresponding to media currently playing at the secondary user device.In some examples, the media currently playing at the secondary userdevice corresponds to the media identifier, wherein the electronicdevice displays a plurality of affordances based on the informationcorresponding to media currently playing at the secondary user device.By displaying a plurality of affordances corresponding to mediacurrently playing at a secondary user device, the system provides theuser with the ability to control and view information about mediaplaying at a secondary user device. For example, the plurality ofaffordances allow the user to control playback of the media currentlyplaying at the secondary user device, such as pausing, rewinding, orfast forwarding. User experience is thus improved by providingadditional options to interact with the media content playing on asecondary device.

In some examples, the instruction for media playback on a secondary userdevice includes a media identifier, wherein performing at least one taskbased on the instruction for media playback comprises determining, basedon the media identifier, whether the user is required to obtain arequested media item in order to commence playback of the requestedmedia item. In some examples, in accordance with a determination thatthe user is required to obtain a requested media item in order tocommence playback of the requested media item, the electronic devicesreceives, from the user, authorization information in order to commencemedia playback of the requested media item, wherein the electronicdevice causes playback of the requested media item to commence at thesecondary user device based on the authorization information. In someexamples, receiving, from the user, authorization information in orderto commence media playback of the requested media item further comprisesdisplaying a user interface associated with obtaining the requestedmedia item, wherein the electronic devices receives, from a user, aplurality of inputs including the authorization information. In someexamples, receiving, from the user, authorization information in orderto commence media playback of the requested media item comprises causingdisplay, on the secondary user device, of a user interface associatedwith obtaining the requested media item, wherein the electronic devicereceives, from a user, a plurality of inputs including the authorizationinformation, wherein the electronic device causes display, on thesecondary user device, of at least a portion of the plurality of inputs.In some examples, performing at least one task based on the instructionfor media playback comprises adjusting a brightness level of at leastone light source associated with the secondary user device. By receivingauthorization information from a user in order to commence mediaplayback of a requested media item, the system facilitates the purchaseof a requested media item among multiple devices. For example, if a useris required to purchase a media item prior to commencing playback of themedia item, the user may enter payment information on a first device(e.g., mobile phone), where a user interface associated with thetransaction is displayed on a second device (e.g., television display).These features improve user experience by intuitively facilitating entryof payment information on a device the user is currently interactingwith, while displaying information on the device that media willultimately be played on.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 13 are optionallyimplemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1-4, 6A-B, and 7A-C. Forexample, the operations of process 1300 may be implemented by one ormore of operating system 718, applications module 724, I/O processingmodule 728, STT processing module 730, natural language processingmodule 732, vocabulary index 744, task flow processing module 736,service processing module 738, media service(s) 120-1, or processor(s)220, 410, 704. It would be clear to a person having ordinary skill inthe art how other processes are implemented based on the componentsdepicted in FIGS. 1-4, 6A-B, and 7A-C.

FIG. 14 illustrates process 1400 for content playback on multipledevices, according to various examples. Process 1400 is performed, forexample, using one or more electronic devices implementing a digitalassistant. In some examples, process 1400 is performed using aclient-server system (e.g., system 100), and the blocks of process 1400are divided up in any manner between the server (e.g., DA server 106)and a client device. In other examples, the blocks of process 1400 aredivided up between the server and multiple client devices (e.g., amobile phone and a smart watch). Thus, while portions of process 1400are described herein as being performed by particular devices of aclient-server system, it will be appreciated that process 1400 is not solimited. In other examples, process 1400 is performed using only aclient device (e.g., user device 104) or only multiple client devices.In process 1400, some blocks are, optionally, combined, the order ofsome blocks is, optionally, changed, and some blocks are, optionally,omitted. In some examples, additional steps may be performed incombination with the process 1400.

At block 1402, the electronic device receives from a user device, atleast a speech request and information associated with media playback.In some examples, the electronic device determines, based on the speechrequest, a requested media item. In some examples, the electronic devicedetermines, based on the speech request and the information associatedwith media playback, one or more candidate secondary user devices,wherein the electronic device determines the identifier associated withthe secondary user device based on at least the requested media item andthe one or more candidate secondary user devices. In some examples,determining the identifier associated with the secondary user devicefurther comprises determining a confidence level for each candidatesecondary user device of the one or more candidate secondary userdevices, wherein each confidence level indicates a suitability forplaying the requested media item at each candidate secondary userdevice. By determining a confidence level for candidate secondary userdevices, the system improves accuracy for selecting a device to whichthe user intends to play media content. For example, if the userfrequently plays media content to a specific television, the system maydetermine that the specific television is very suitable for playing arequested media item, and thus is associated with a high confidence. Asanother example, if a user rarely plays media content to a differentdevice, the system may determine that the specific television is notvery suitable for playing a requested media item, and thus is associatedwith a low confidence. Thus, the system improves efficiency in selectingcandidate user devices by considering relevant information to determinedevice playback suitability.

In some examples, the electronic device determines whether at least oneof the confidence levels exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein inaccordance with determination that at least one of the determined theconfidence levels exceeds the predetermined threshold, the electronicdevice selects a candidate secondary user device having a highestconfidence level and determines the identifier associated with thesecondary user device based on the selected candidate secondary userdevice, and wherein in accordance with a determination that at least oneof the determined the confidence levels does not exceed thepredetermined threshold, the electronic device transmits, to the userdevice, a plurality of identifiers associated with candidate secondaryuser devices. In some examples, the electronic device receives, from theuser device, a selection of an identifier from the plurality ofidentifiers and determines the identifier associated with the secondaryuser device based on the selected identifier. By transmittingidentifiers for candidate secondary user devices to the user, the systemimproves efficiency and user experience by accurately selecting thecorrect secondary user device with user assistance when necessary. Forexample, in the case where a user frequently plays content on twodifferent televisions, such as a living room television and a bedroomtelevision, resulting in a difficult determination for which devicecontent should be played on. Thus, verifying the correct device with theuser avoids the scenario where media playback commences on a device theuser does not intend to interact with.

At block 1404, the electronic device determines whether the speechrequest corresponds to a user intent to play media content on asecondary user device. In some examples, in accordance with adetermination that the speech request corresponds to a user intent toplay media content on a secondary user device, the electronic devicedetermines whether the speech request corresponds to a plurality ofcandidate media items, and in accordance with a determination that thespeech request corresponds to a plurality of candidate media items, theelectronic device transmits, to the user device, a plurality ofidentifiers associated with at least a portion of the plurality ofcandidate media items. In some examples, the electronic device receives,from the user device, a selection of an identifier from the plurality ofidentifiers, wherein the electronic device determines a referenced mediaitem based on the selected identifier. By transmitting identifiers forcandidate media items to the user, the system improves efficiency anduser experience by accurately selecting the correct media item toplayback when necessary. If the user provides an ambiguous request toplay media, for example, by only referring to a series title, the systemmay efficiently narrow the playback options for the user such as bypresenting specific episodes of the series to the user. Thus, verifyingthe media item with the user improves efficiency and user experience bypermitting a user to select a specific media item from a narrowed listof options.

At block 1406, in accordance with a determination that the speechrequest corresponds to a user intent to play media content on asecondary user device, the electronic device determines an identifierassociated with the secondary user device. In some examples, inaccordance with determining the identifier associated with the secondaryuser device, the electronic device transmits an instruction forinitiating a standby state on the secondary user device. In someexamples, in accordance with determining an identifier associated withthe secondary user device, the electronic device removes, from thedevice, the information associated with media playback. By initiating astandby state on the secondary user device, the system improvesefficiency and user experience by preparing a device to play mediacontent upon reception of a command to commence playback. For example,the device may be turned on and entered into an idle state, such thatmedia plays immediately upon receiving a command. Furthermore, byremoving the information associated with media playback from theelectronic device, such as the digital assistant server, the systemimproves user experience by protecting user information and thusenhancing user privacy.

At block 1408, the electronic device transmits, to a media server, afirst media request including a sender identifier corresponding to theuser device. At block 1410, the electronic device transmits, to themedia server, a second media request including a sender identifiercorresponding to the identifier associated with the secondary userdevice. In some examples, the first media request includes a requestedmedia item and the second media request includes the requested mediaitem. In some examples, the first media request and the second mediarequest are transmitted simultaneously. By transmitting parallelrequests including the first and second media request, the systemimproves efficiency by causing the electronic device, such as thedigital assistant server, to emulate signals sent by user devices, suchas a mobile phone and television, for example. These features furtherimprove efficiency by leveraging existing media systems and causing thesystems to function as if the user devices were originating therequests, thus reducing the need to further modify existing systems andprotocols.

At block 1412, the electronic device receives, from the media server,results based on at least the first media request and second mediarequest. In some examples, the received results comprise one or moreparameters indicating suitability for playing the requested media itemat the secondary user device, the one or more parameters including atleast one of a first parameter indicating whether the requested mediaitem is capable of being played on at least one of the user device andthe secondary user device, a second parameter indicating whether therequested media item is owned on at least one of the user device and thesecondary user device, a third parameter indicating whether therequested media item is currently playing on the user device, a fourthparameter indicating a viewing history of the requested media item. Insome examples, the electronic device determines the instruction formedia playback on the secondary user device based on a comparison of atleast two of the parameters indicating suitability for playing therequested media item at the secondary user device. By receiving andcomparing parameters indicating suitability for playing media at asecondary user device, the system improves efficiency for media playbackby determining the optimal procedure for performing media playbackacross multiple user devices. For example, the system takes intoconsideration many factors regarding how the user has previouslyinteracted with the media, and device playback capabilities for playingsuch media. In turn, these features improve user experience and systemefficiency by providing a consistent user experience and selectingappropriate devices for playing desired media.

In some examples, the electronic device determines whether the receivedresults include an indication that the requested media item is currentlyplaying on the user device, wherein in accordance with a determinationthat the received results include an indication that the requested mediaitem is currently playing on the user device, the electronic devicetransmits, as the instruction for media playback on the secondarydevice, a command to play the requested media item currently playing onthe user device. In some examples, the electronic device determineswhether the received results include an indication that the requestedmedia item is currently playing on the user device, wherein inaccordance with a determination that the received results include anindication that the requested media item is not currently playing on theuser device, the electronic device transmits, as the instruction formedia playback on the secondary device, a command to obtain therequested media item for playback at the secondary user device. In someexamples, the command to obtain the requested media item for playback atthe secondary user device includes a command to obtain the requestedmedia item from a media server. In some examples, the command to obtainthe requested media item for playback at the secondary user deviceincludes a command to obtain the requested media item from a storage onthe secondary user device. At block 1414, the electronic devicetransmits, to the user device, an instruction for media playback on thesecondary user device based on the results. By determining whether toplay media currently playing on a user device, the system improves userexperience by proving seamless transitions when transferring playback ofmedia to a different device. These features further improve systemefficiency by obtaining media from other sources, such as a media serveror device storage, when necessary.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 14 are optionallyimplemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1-4, 6A-B, and 7A-C. Forexample, the operations of process 1400 may be implemented by one ormore of operating system 718, applications module 724, I/O processingmodule 728, STT processing module 730, natural language processingmodule 732, vocabulary index 744, task flow processing module 736,service processing module 738, media service(s) 120-1, or processor(s)220, 410, 704. It would be clear to a person having ordinary skill inthe art how other processes are implemented based on the componentsdepicted in FIGS. 1-4, 6A-B, and 7A-C.

In accordance with some implementations, a computer-readable storagemedium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable storage medium) isprovided, the computer-readable storage medium storing one or moreprograms for execution by one or more processors of an electronicdevice, the one or more programs including instructions for performingany of the methods or processes described herein.

In accordance with some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., aportable electronic device) is provided that comprises means forperforming any of the methods or processes described herein.

In accordance with some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., aportable electronic device) is provided that comprises a processing unitconfigured to perform any of the methods or processes described herein.

In accordance with some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., aportable electronic device) is provided that comprises one or moreprocessors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by theone or more processors, the one or more programs including instructionsfor performing any of the methods or processes described herein.

Secure Device to Device Communication System and Framework

Additional embodiments described herein provide for a network system toenable content playback on multiple devices. In one embodiment, contentplayback on the multiple devices is enabled via a companion link system,which provides for a transport agnostic communication system in whichdevice to device connections can be performed over a common networkconnection, such as a LAN connection, or performed via direct wirelessconnections, such as a Wi-Fi direct or Bluetooth connection. Devicesthat communicate via the companion link can discover and pair with eachother via a discovery and pairing process described herein. Once deviceshave discovered and paired with one another, encrypted data channels canbe established between those devices that provide additional securityand authentication services over and beyond those provided by theunderlying transport.

FIG. 15 illustrates a system 1500 that enables communication betweendevices within a digital assistant system. The components of system 1500can be variants or versions of system 100 of FIG. 1. In variousembodiments, the system 1500 enables secure and authenticated messageexchange between multiple devices. The multiple devices can include oneor more user devices (e.g., user device 1504, user device 1515), whicheach may be a portable multifunctional device. The multiple user devicesmay be versions or variants of user device 104 and/or second user device122 as in FIG. 1. The multiple devices can also include one or morestationary devices, such as one or more smart home devices (e.g., smarthome device 1503, smart home device 1533) that may be used by multipleusers. In one embodiment, smart home device 1503 may be a digitalassistant enabled (DA client 1501) smart speaker device, while smarthome device 1533 may be a digital assistant enabled (DA client 1531)television or television set top box. In one embodiment a set ofcompanion links 1505 a-1505 b can enable message-based communicationbetween a user device and one or more communal smart home devices. Acompanion link 1505 c can also be established between communal smarthome devices to enable communication between those devices. In oneembodiment, a companion link 1505 d can also be established between userdevices to enable peer-to-peer exchange of device data.

A companion link 1505 c can enable general purpose messaging thatenables communication between communal devices, such as smart homedevice 1503 and smart home device 1533. Such link enables the communaldevices to work in concert to coordinate operation. For example, smarthome device 1503 and smart home device 1533 may be configured as part ofa distributed media playback system that can play music or other media.The companion link 1505 c established between smart home device 1503 andsmart home device 1533 can be used to coordinate media playback or tocoordinate multi-channel audio playback over the multiple devices. Whena user speaks a query to one of the smart home devices, the devices canexchange messages to coordinate ducking of audio playback for theduration of the spoken request and any associated audio responses. Anynumber of communal smart home devices and user devices can communicateusing the system 1500 to exchange audio data, media playlists,configuration data, and other information used to enable a connecteddigital home system.

In one embodiment, companion links 1505 a-1505 d can be established overa local network connection (e.g., LAN) via a local wired and/or wirelessnetwork connection. In one embodiment, the companion links 1505 a-1505 dcan also be established over a WAN connection, such as an Internetconnection, although policy and configuration determinations mayoptionally be configured to limit the companion link 1505 c betweensmart home devices 1503, 1533 to a single network. In one embodiment, inaddition to the digital assistant server 1506, the server system 1508can include an online user account server 1536 to which user devices1504, 1515 and smart home devices 1503, 1533 can connect via the one ormore networks 1510. The online user account server 1536 can includeinformation associated with an online user account of a user associatedwith the various devices. In some embodiments, the online user accountserver 1536 can also include or be associated with server hardware andsoftware logic to provide online services including online storage,messaging, e-mail, media and streaming services, or navigation services.In one embodiment, the online user account server 1536 can also provideor facilitate access to one or more of the external services 1520 ofFIG. 15. In one embodiment, the online user account server 1536 can alsoprovide or facilitate access to an online store, such as an onlineapplication store (e.g., app store) and/or an online media store, suchas a music, video, or e-book store.

In one embodiment, a companion link 1505 d between user devices 1504,1515 can be used to enable peer-to-peer data exchange. In oneembodiment, automatic data exchanges between the devices can beconfigured to be performed over the companion link 1505 d. For example,where user device 1504 and user device 1515 are each associated with thesame account on the online user account server 1536, a credentialexchange can be performed via the online account server to enable theautomatic establishment of an encrypted communication channel betweenthe devices whenever the devices are within direct communication range.In one embodiment, data for cloud services associated with the onlineuser account server 1536 can be exchanged between devices over thecompanion link 1505 d instead of over the one or more networks 1510. Inone embodiment, the online user account server 1536 can maintain a listof devices associated with a single account or a list of devicesassociated with a family of associated accounts. The list of devicesassociated with an account of family of accounts can be used tofacilitate device discovery and the establishment of companion linkconnections between devices. The accounts on the online account servercan enable mutual authentication between the electronic devices via anexchange of authentication credentials.

In one embodiment, the online user account server 1536 includes or isassociated with a registration server to register a unique deviceidentifier associated with each device with an online account associatedwith a user. Once a device has been registered with an online account ofa user, an identifier token can be created that enables the device to belocated and identified over the networks 1510. The identifier token caninclude one or more cryptographic keys, tokens, certificates, or otherdata that allows the digital assistant server 1506, online user accountserver 1536, and other servers within the server system 1508 to locateand identify a device across the one or more networks 1510. In someembodiments a smart home device 1503, 1533 can use the identifier tokento establish a remote connection with the user device 1504 if the userdevice is outside of the home or is not connected to the home network ofthe smart home devices. The smart home devices 1503, 1533 can use theidentifier token to locate the user device 1504 on a mobile wirelessnetwork and establish a secure remote companion link connection with theuser device 1504. Locating the user device 1504 and establishing theconnection to the user device can be facilitated in part via the digitalassistant server 1506 and the online user account server 1536. In suchembodiments, at least a subset of the companion device functions of theuser device 1504 can continue to operate when the user device 1504 isaway from home, or if the user is at home but is not connected to thehome network.

In some embodiments each digital assistant client (DA client 1501, DAclient 1502, DA client 1531) executing on a device can be associatedwith a digital assistant identifier. In various embodiments, the digitalassistant identifier can be associated with or derived from theidentifier token for the host device, an account identifier associatedwith an online account of a user of the device, and/or another tokenassociated with or derived from the account or device identifiers. Thedigital assistant identifier of a digital assistant client can uniquelyor quasi-uniquely identify the DA client 1501, 1502, 1531 on the variousdevices when the digital assistant clients are communicating with eachother or the digital assistant server 1506. The digital assistantidentifier can be associated with identification or location informationof the host device of the digital assistant, such as the identificationtoken of the host device. After a paring relationship is created betweena smart home device 1503, 1533 and the user device 1504, the digitalassistant clients (DA client 1501, DA client 1531) on the smart homedevice can store the digital assistant identifier and use the digitalassistant identifier to locate, identify, and communicate with the DAclient 1502 on the user device 1504. The digital assistant identifierfor the DA client 1502 can also be sent to the digital assistant server1506 and stored as a companion digital assistant identifier. Should thedigital assistant server 1506 require access to private information of auser to perform processing operations for a request received at the DAclient 1501, 1531 of the smart home device 1503, 1533, the digitalassistant server 1506 can contact the DA client 1502 of the user device1504 on behalf of the DA client 1501, 1531. The digital assistant server1506 can then receive from the DA client 1502 on the user device 1504,in various embodiments, private information from the user device 1504,processing results of an information processing task dispatched to theuser device 1504, or permission and/or access credentials to accessprivate data on behalf of the user device 1504.

In some embodiments, the server system 1508 includes a relay server 1526that can be used to facilitate remote connections between a smart homedevice 1503, 1533 and the user device 1504. The relay server 1526 canenable a relay service that can relay companion link messages betweendevices in the event a local connection or another form of remoteconnection, such as a remote peer-to-peer connection, cannot beestablished. The relay server 1526 can enable remote companion linkmessage passing based on a relay pairing established between the smarthome devices 1503, 1533 and the user device 1504. Keys, certificate, andother identification and verification data associated with the variousdevices can be exchanged during the local pairing process that can beused to establish a relay pairing between devices. Once a relay pairinghas been established between devices, the smart home devices 1503, 1533can send messages to the relay server 1526 with a unique relayidentifier associated with the user device 1504.

Each device that can connect with the relay server 1526 can have anassociated relay identifier, which is a persistent pairing token the canbe used to identify and authenticate the connecting devices. The relayidentifier can be, include, or be derived from a device identifier oridentifier token that uniquely identifies the device and can includecertificates and/or signatures that enable verification of the relaytoken. The relay server 1526 can then relay the messages to the userdevice 1504. In one embodiment, a persistent and bidirectionalconnection can be established, enabling the user device 1504 to sendreturn messages to the smart home device 1503, 1533 via the relay server1526. In one embodiment, the user device 1504 can also initiate aconnection with a smart home device 1503, 1533 using a relay identifierassociated with the device. In one embodiment, relay identifiers areused for each message exchanged over the relay server 1526, enabling therelay server 1526 to verify the authenticity of each message relayedthough the server and to prevent unauthorized devices from transmittingmessages via an established relay server connection.

FIG. 16 illustrates a home network environment 1600 including multiplesmart home devices, according to embodiments. The home networkenvironment 1600 can include a wireless access point 1612 to provideaccess to a wireless network that services the home network environment.The home network environment 1600 can be part of a smart homeenvironment. Multiple smart home devices 1604, 1606, 1614, 1616,1622A-1622B can be connected to the home network environment 1600 viathe wireless network, or optionally a wired network connection. Invarious embodiments, the home network environment can include varioustypes of smart home devices. For example, smart home device 1604, 1606,1614, can be smart speaker devices that are configured to distributedmedia playback. Additionally, smart home device 1616 can be a smartappliance device, such as a smart refrigerator device. Each of the smarthome devices 1604, 1606, 1614, 1616, 1622A-1622B can use the network ofthe home network environment 1600 to establish interconnecting companionlinks to enable the devices to exchange configuration information. Forexample, smart home devices 1622A-1622B can be configured asmulti-channel smart speaker devices, which can use the companion link toconfigure multi-channel (e.g., stereo, surround, etc.) audio playback.Additionally, each of the smart home devices 1604, 1606, 1614, 1616,1622A-1622B can include digital assistant clients. User devices such asa mobile instance of the user device 104, via or on behalf of aconnected vehicle infotainment system, can also be configured to connectto the home network environment when in proximity to the wireless accesspoint 1612. In one embodiment the user device 1504 can also create acompanion link connection to any other user devices that may beconnected to the home network environment 1600 or within direct radiorange of the user device 1504.

Device Discovery and Pairing

Before a companion link communication channel is established, adiscovery and pairing process is performed. The device discovery processenables a smart home device to locate a companion device through whichthe digital assistant client on the smart home device is to accessprivate user information that may be used to process and/or respond to auser request. The device discovery process, in some instances, can alsoinclude user verification that communication between the smart homedevice and the companion device should occur. In some embodiments,device discovery can leverage existing service discovery protocols thatfacilitate locating devices and/or services on a wireless or othernetwork, such as the Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) developedby the UPnP Forum or the Bonjour networking technology developed byApple Inc. (published as IETF RFC 6762 and IETF RFC 6763 and referred toherein as “Bonjour”). In a device discovery service, a device canadvertise information indicating its existence, address, and optionallyadditional information about its capabilities. Other devices, includingother smart home devices or user devices, can browse the advertisementsand identify devices of interest based on the broadcast information.Using the advertised address, a browsing device can initiatecommunication with the advertiser.

Depending on the network and discovery service, advertising canoptionally include real-time broadcasting of information (e.g., througha multicast or beacon signal) and/or providing advertisement informationto a central repository (e.g., at a network access point) from whichother devices can retrieve the information. Browsing of advertisementscan include detecting broadcast advertisements and/or retrievingadvertisement information from the central repository. In someembodiments, communal smart home devices that are stationary attached toa power source, such as an electrical outlet, can continuously performadvertisement and discovery for the companion link service. Mobile userdevices can enable discovery of the companion link service based on thelocation of the user device. For example, and in one embodiment, ageo-fence boundary 1603 is configured on the mobile device, such thatcompanion link discovery is enabled when the mobile device is within ageographic proximity to a location designated as the home location ofthe user device 1504.

When a smart home device or another secondary device is discovered by auser device 1504, a network data connection (e.g., TCP, UDP, etc.) canbe established between the smart home device and the companion device.The network data connection can be established using any network layerprotocol. To avoid connection races between devices that are bothadvertising and discovering, the device with the lexicographically lowerpersistent identifier initiates the connection between devices. Thepersistent identifier of a device is derived from an anonymizedidentifier that is advertised via the discovery service. In oneembodiment, to derive the persistent identifier based on advertisedinformation make use of data exchanged via a previously performedpairing process. In such embodiment, a data connection cannot beestablished with a smart home device until the smart home device ispaired with a user device, as the persistent identifier used to connectwith a communal smart home device is otherwise unknown. Once a dataconnection is established, a secure communication session can beestablished between the communal smart home device and the companiondevice. The communal smart home device and the connected companiondevice can then exchange presence and reachability information. Wherethe companion device is a mobile device, the companion device can thenenter a wake-on-wireless (WoW) state as needed, when data is not beingexchanged over the companion link, while communal devices that areconnected to a power source can remain active to reduce first-messagelatency.

In the event connectivity is lost between devices, the discovery servicecan be re-enabled and used to search for the device on the localnetwork. If the missing device is re-discovered, the data connectionbetween devices can be re-established. If the missing device cannot bediscovered, state discovery service information in the records of themissing device is reconfirmed and cleaned. The searching device can thenattempt to establish communication with the missing device via a secureinternet session. In one embodiment, part of the presence andreachability information exchanged when establishing a data connectionincludes a device identifier, identifier token, relay identifier, oranother form of identification token that can be used to reach or enablemessage exchange with the missing device, for example via a peer-to-peeror relayed Internet connection. If a secure Internet connection can besuccessfully established with the previously missing device, companionlink messages can be exchanged over the secure Internet connection.

In the event a companion device is connected to a smart home device viaan Internet-based connection and a local connection becomes available,the companion link connection can be switched to the local connection.For example, user device 104 can cross a geo-fence boundary 1603 anenable a discovery protocol (e.g., SSDP, Bonjour, etc.) to search fordevices (e.g., smart home devices 1604, 1606, 1614, 1616, 1622A-1622B).Should the user device 104 discover the availability of a localconnection to the smart home device to which the user device 104 isconnected to over the Internet connection, the user device cantransition the Internet connection to a local (e.g., Wi-Fi) connection.In one embodiment, connection switching can be performed wheneverconnectivity is lost between connected devices (e.g., the user device104 leaves the home network environment 1600) or if the devicesdetermine that a better connection is available (e.g., the user device104 returns to the home network environment 1600). Local connections maybe preferred to Internet connections, as local connections presumablyare lower latency. Additionally, it may be less resource intensive froma device and infrastructure standpoint to maintain a local connectioninstead of an Internet connection.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of operations of a discovery process 1700 usedto discover and pair electronic devices, according to embodimentsdescribed herein. The illustrated discovery process 1700 includesoperations performed on electronic device 1702 and electronic device1704. Electronic device 1702 and electronic device 1704 can each be anysmart home device described herein or any personal user device describedherein, such as, but not limited to, a smart speaker device, atelevision, a television set top device, a smartphone device, tabletcomputer device, or another user device that can connect with anotherdevice via a companion link described herein.

In one embodiment, as shown at block 1710, electronic device 1702 canset a status bit to indicate that the device is currently unpaired or isotherwise looking for a companion device with which to pair. The statusbit can be a bit in a status flag indicator that listed in the statusinformation advertised by electronic device 1702. At block 1712,electronic device 1702 can advertise its presence via a discoveryprotocol (e.g., SSDP, Bonjour, etc.) as having support for the companionlink service. For instance, using Bonjour, electronic device 1702 canadvertise itself with a name and a service type. The name can be auser-readable name for the companion discovery (e.g., “Speaker”); insome instances, the advertised name can be the name specified in thecompanion discovery information service instance of a device definitionrecord. The service type can be defined for the uniform accessoryprotocol (e.g., service type “_companion-link._tcp”). The advertisementcan also include additional information. Similar information can bedistributed using other service discovery protocols and techniques. Forinstance, using SSDP, companion discovery can include advertising a nameand service type URI using a multicast HTTP NOTIFY message. The URI canbe used by the electronic device 1704 to retrieve additional informationvia a unicast request to electronic device 1702.

After electronic device 1702 begins advertising the companion linkservice via a service discovery protocol, the electronic device 1704 candiscover the communal device when browsing for unpaired devices, asshown at block 1714. No particular timing is required between thebeginning of advertisement and the beginning of service browsing,although the electronic device 1704 will be unable to discoverelectronic device 1702 unless discovery advertisement is detectable whenelectronic device 1704 browses.

In one embodiment, the electronic device 1704 can browse for unpaireddevices in response to a trigger, such as a trigger provided by anapplication execution on the electronic device 1704. In one embodiment,the electronic device 1704 can browse for unpaired devices when theelectronic device 1704 is placed in physical proximity to an unpaireddevice. For example, an out-of-box proximity setup for the communaldevice can include a data exchange over a short-range wirelesscommunication mechanism (e.g., using Bluetooth and/or Bluetooth LowEnergy, NFC, etc.), which can trigger the electronic device 1704 tobrowse for unpaired devices.

At block 1716, electronic device 1704 can find a device via thediscovery service advertisement, for example, by detecting theadvertisement performed at block 1712. At block 1718, the electronicdevice 1704 can determine, based on the advertisement, whether thediscovered device is a connection candidate, such as the unpairedelectronic device 1702. In one embodiment, the electronic device 1704can determine the discovered device is a connection candidate when thediscovered device is advertising the companion link service. Theelectronic device 1704 can check the discovery status flags to determinewhether electronic device 1702 is already configured or paired with acompanion device. As another example, the electronic device 1704 cancheck the advertised protocol version to determine whether the companionlink protocol version of electronic device 1702 is compatible with thecompanion link protocol supported by electronic device 1704. Ifelectronic device 1704 determines that the accessory is not advertisingfor a companion device with which to establish a companion link,electronic device 1704 can return to block 1714 and continue to browse.In one embodiment, after a period of time in which a communal device isnot discovered, the browsing operations may timeout and browsing forunpaid devices may discontinue for a time.

At block 1722, electronic device 1704 can present information aboutelectronic device 1702 to the user via a user interface, such as adisplay device of electronic device 1704. At block 1724, electronicdevice 1704 can receive input from the user via the user interfaceregarding actions to perform with the detected device. For example, theuser can provide input indicating whether electronic device 1704 shouldestablish a pairing with the communal device. Electronic device 1704 canpresent any or all of the information obtained from the advertisementdata provided by the communal device and prompt the user to indicatewhether electronic device 1704 should connect to electronic device 1702.Requesting user confirmation can help to avoid spurious or unwantedpairings between a communal device and a personal device. At block 1726,electronic device 1704 can interpret the user input received at block1724 and determine whether to pair with electronic device 1702. Inaddition to user approval to initiate a pairing operation, otheroperations can be performed to complete the pairing operation tominimize risk of a pairing occurring without approval of the rightfulowner/operator of electronic device 1704. For example, electronic device1704 and/or electronic device 1702 may request the input of a passcodeknown to the user of electronic device 1704. In one embodiment,biometric verification (e.g., fingerprint, facial recognition, etc.) canbe requested by electronic device 1702 and/or electronic device 1704 tocomplete the paring operation at block 1726.

If the user directs electronic device 1704 to decline the pairing or auser verification operation fails, electronic device 1704 can return toblock 1714 to look for other accessories or devices. If electronicdevice 1704 and electronic device 1702 are to pair, at block 1728 andblock 1730, electronic device 1704 and electronic device 1702 canrespectively execute a pair setup process. In some embodiments, the pairsetup process can be used to establish encryption keys to facilitatesecure communication between electronic device 1704 and electronicdevice 1702. In some embodiments, user confirmation can be incorporatedinto the pair setup process, and a separate user confirmation prior toinitiating pair setup is not required. In one embodiment, the pair setupprocess enables the establishment of a trusted relationship betweenelectronic device 1702 and electronic device 1704. The established trustrelationship can be later verified during setup of a securecommunication session.

If the pair setup process completes successfully, at block 1731electronic device 1702 can update device status information to indicatethat authorization is now required to communicate with the accessoryand/or that the accessory is now paired with at least one personaldevice, for example, by updating a status flag indicator within theadvertised device data.

At block 1732, electronic device 1704 can obtain and cache a devicedefinition record from electronic device 1702, which can provide therecord upon request at block 1734. The device definition record caninclude a set of services supported by the device and/or other relevantcharacteristics that can enable other electronic device 1704, as well asother connected devices, to determine how to control, connect with, orotherwise interact with electronic device 1702. Where electronic device1704 caches the device definition record, the information can be used tofacilitate detecting state changes in electronic device 1702. In someembodiments, electronic device 1704 can also cache information from theadvertisement data provided by electronic device 1702, which can also beused to detect state changes in the communal device.

At blocks 1736 and 1738 electronic device 1704 and electronic device1702 can begin to exchange data used to establish a secure communicationchannel. The data exchange can include a key or certificate exchangebetween the devices. The key exchange can be protected via a sharedsecret exchanged between devices, where the shared secret can beexchanged using an out-of-band communication method. Additionally, thedata exchange can include the exchange of one or more long term keysbetween the devices, which may themselves be protected by one or moreshort-term keys. Once a pairing is established, the pairing can beleveraged to provide end-to-end message encryption such that only paireddevices can read messages exchanged between the devices. In oneembodiment, the secure communication channel is a bidirectional channel,enabling either device communicating not the channel to initiate amessage exchange. During a message exchange, whichever device initiatesthe communication session is referred to as the client device, while thedevice accepting the session is referred to as the server device. In oneembodiment, the first message exchanged between devices is aninformation exchange message. The client device can send an initialinformation message including feature flags or other device information.The server device can then respond with an information message as tosupported features. Once the secure communication channel is establishedand the information exchange occurs, the communicating devices can enteran idle state if there are no immediate operations pending.

It will be appreciated that the discovery and pairing process describedherein is illustrative and that variations and modifications arepossible. Operations described as sequential may be executed inparallel, order of steps may be varied, and steps may be modified,combined, added or omitted. Furthermore, while the SSDP and Bonjourservices are used as examples of a device discovery service, similarconcepts can be applied in the context of other device discoveryservices. In some embodiments, prior to determining whether to pair withelectronic device 1702 or any other discovered device, the electronicdevice 1704 can request a definition record (or a portion thereof) fromthe paring candidate device, which can be requested, for example, via anHTTP request). Depending on configuration, the paring candidate devicecan provide all, some, or none of its accessory definition record inresponse to a request from an unpaired electronic device. Alternatively,definition records may be accessible before a pairing is established andthe decision whether to pair can be based on the advertisementinformation provided by the paring candidate device. The advertisementdata can include, for example, a local name for the device; a uniqueaccessory identifier; flags indicating that the accessory isdiscoverable; a universally unique identifier (UUID) for at least someof the services; an indicator of the device state; and an indication ofwhether the device has performed pair setup with any other electronicdevices.

In some embodiments, the discovery process 1700, or a similar process,can be used to detect state changes in paired devices. For example, astate number value that is advertised by a device can be incrementedwhen device state changes. When a device (e.g., electronic device 1702)advertises a state change, other paired devices (e.g., electronic device1704) can advertise the state change, for example, by broadcasting anupdated Bonjour TXT record, and a paired electronic device that haspreviously cached the device record can detect the change by comparingthe broadcast values of the state number with the cached value.

The secure communication channel established between the devices atblock 1736 and block 1738 can be used to exchange companion linkmessages. In one embodiment, before companion link messages areexchanged over a companion link, a secure session is established orre-established between electronic device 1702 and the electronic device1704. In one embodiment, establishing a session includes performing apair-verify process to verify the pairing between devices. Thepair-verify process relies upon a previously established paringrelationship between electronic device 1702 and electronic device 1704.For example, and in one embodiment, establishing a companion linksession between devices can require the persistent identifier of thedevices, which can be derived from an anonymized identifier that isadvertised via the discovery service. However, to derive the persistentidentifier based on the advertised information can make use of one ormore elements of data that were exchanged during the pairing processbetween the devices. In one embodiment, the pair-verify process caninclude the generation of short-term public key pairs that are used toencrypt or sign messages exchanged during the verification process, aswell as a verification of previously exchanged long-term key pairs thatwere exchanged during the initial pairing of the devices. Thepair-verify process can be performed each time a secure session isestablished between devices using a companion link connection.

FIG. 18 illustrates a process 1800 for an electronic device to establisha companion link connection with a paired device, according toembodiments described herein. The process 1800 illustrates operations inwhich an electronic device is to initiate a connection with anotherelectronic device over the companion link. In one embodiment, duringmessage exchange over the companion link, whichever device initiates thecommunication session is a client device with respect to the companionlink, while the device accepting the session is a server device withrespect to the companion link, accordingly, any electronic device thatcan connect over the companion link may each initiate or accept acompanion link connection.

At block 1802, a determination can be made at a client electronic devicethat a communication session should be established with anotherelectronic device (e.g., server electronic device) over the companionlink. The determination can be made by any companion-link capableelectronic device described herein to initiate a data transmissionsession between devices. The connection can be established at deviceinitialization on a client device, to re-establish a connection that hasbeen disconnected, or a connection that has timed-out due to non-use.

At block 1804, the client electronic device can attempt discovery of theother electronic device via the local network. The discovery can beperformed using a discovery service as described herein, including butnot limited to Bonjour or SSDP. If the other device is discoveredlocally at block 1806, the process 1800 continues at block 1816, wherethe client electronic device can attempt to establish a local networkconnection with the other electronic device. The local networkconnection can be established via a network protocol such as, but notlimited to, the transmission control protocol (TCP). If the otherelectronic device is not discovered locally, the client electronicdevice can determine if a remote identifier is available at block 1808.The remote identifier can be an identifier or identification token thatenables the electronic device, or another companion link client, tolocate, connect, and established a companion link session with a paireddevice that does not reside on the same network or is otherwise unableto be discovered via a discovery service protocol. One or more remoteidentifiers can be exchanged between companion link devices during thepresence and reachability information exchange that occurs during alocal device discovery and/or pairing process (e.g., discovery process1700 as in FIG. 17). Exemplary remote identifiers include the digitalassistant identifier associated with a digital assistant client on theother electronic device, which can be used to communicate via a digitalassistant server; an identifier token established via registration withan online user account server; and a relay identifier associated with arelay server. The electronic device can use an available remoteidentifier to query for a network address, such as an Internet IPaddress, that can be used to connect to the other electronic device, orto enable a relayed message exchange with the other electronic devicevia a relay service. At block 1818, the electronic device can use aremote identifier to establish a remote network connection with theother electronic device.

Whether the connection is established via a local network connection atblock 1816 or a remote network connection at block 1818, the clientelectronic device can verify the pairing with the other electronicdevice at block 1820. Verifying the pairing establishes that a genuinepair relationship exists between the devices commenting over thecompanion link and makes uses of data exchanged during a previous localpairing. In one embodiment, a pair-verify process is performed in whicheach device demonstrates possession of a long-term private keycorresponding to a long-term public key that was exchanged during pairsetup. The pair-verification process can additionally includeestablishing a new shared secret or session key, which can be used toencrypt communications that occur during a pair-verified session.

At block 1822 the other electronic device can determine whether thepair-verify process was successful. If the pair verification process atblock 1820 fails to verify a pair relationship between the electronicdevices, the client electronic device will fail the establishment of thesecure communication session, as the security of the communication linkmay have been compromised. In one embodiment, the client electronicdevice can inform the user of when a secure connection with anotherelectronic device has failed to validate.

If at block 1822 the electronic device determines that the pairing hasbeen successfully verified, the client electronic device can establish averified companion link session with the other electronic device atblock 1824. The verified session can enable end-to-end encrypted messageexchange between the devices, such that messages and data can beexchanged between devices in a privacy-preserving manner. The encryptedmessage exchange can be performed to enable, for example, the relay ofcommands or responses for a digital assistant with respect to personalor private user data, synchronize device data between the electronicdevices, or establish a secure intercom media stream with the otherelectronic device.

As indicated above, while process 1800 is described and illustrated witha client electronic device initiating a connection with another (e.g.,server) electronic device, a verified companion link session is abidirectional connection once established, enabling two-way messageexchange between the devices. Furthermore, any mobile devices thatparticipate in the session can enter a wake-on-wireless state when datais not being exchanged over the companion link, such that the device mayenter a low power state while the wireless radio and associatedprocessors maintain the connection associated with the session.

Network Framework for Content Playback on Multiple Devices

In some embodiments, content playback on multiple devices as depicted inFIGS. 8-14 and implemented by the systems and devices of FIG. 1-7C canbe further implemented using the network systems and frameworks asdepicted in FIG. 15-18. The companion link framework can provide anunderlying implementation layer for network functionality accessed bytechniques described herein. The companion link network framework canenable automatic connections between user devices and secondary devicesthat are used for playback. Once connected, the companion link canfacilitate the exchange of media information between digital assistantclients on the user devices and the secondary devices. The companionlink can then facilitate the determination of the playback mode based onthe availability of requested media items. For example, a requestedmedia item may not be available at all player systems, depending on themedia stored on the player and/or whether the player has access to amusic streaming service. The companion link can be used to streamcontent from a first player to a second player in the event that contentis not directly available on the first player.

In a further embodiment, the digital assistant client functionality isextended beyond that which is depicted above in FIG. 8-14. In oneembodiment, if playback of media content requires the use of anapplication that is available on an application store, the digitalassistant client can facilitate the acquisition of the application fromthe application store to streamline the process of media playback. Forexample, the digital assistant client can offer the user the option todownload the application and begin playback via the downloadedapplication.

In one embodiment, a digital assistant client on player devices (e.g.,secondary user devices such as televisions, set top boxes, and/or voiceactivated speaker systems) can provide identifying information,including an identification token, to companion link framework logic onthe secondary user devices. Companion link framework logic on a userdevice can auto-connect to the player devices when the user device joinsthe same network as the player devices or when the user device comeswithin direct wireless communication range of the player devices. Onceconnected, the companion link framework logic can synchronize digitalassistant client information between the player devices and the userdevices, to reduce response latency when a command is received at thedigital assistant of a user device. The synchronization can be a two-waysynchronization in which the user device receives information from theplayer devices and the player devices receive information from the userdevice. Synchronized information can include for information tofacilitate the playback of media on the player device.

FIG. 19 illustrates process 1900 at a network framework for contentplayback on multiple devices, according to embodiments. Process 1900 isperformed, for example, using one or more electronic devices, such asthe devices of system 1500 of FIG. 15. The illustrated electronicdevices can additionally include a companion link framework thatprovides network connection services. In one embodiment, the operationsof process 1900 are performed at least on part via software logic (e.g.,a library or daemon) associated with the companion link framework.

Process 1900 includes, as shown at block 1902, companion link logic canreceive an identification token from a digital assistant client on auser electronic device. The companion link logic can then detect, viaone or more network or data interfaces, a new connection to a datanetwork, as shown at block 1904. Instead of detecting a new networkconnection, the companion link logic can also detect the presence of anearby wireless device capable of a direct wireless connection. As shownat block 1906, the companion link logic can scan the capabilities of anearby wireless devices and/or a device connected to the data network todetermine if any of the devices are player devices that can play media.If a player device is discovered, as shown at block 1907, process 1900includes for the companion link logic determine if the detected playerdevice has been paired with the user electronic device at block 1909.Otherwise the companion link logic can return to block 1906 to continueto search for a player device.

If at block 1909 the user electronic device is determined to be pairedwith the player device, process 1900 can proceed to block 1912 and theuser electronic device, via the companion link logic, to connect to thepaired player device. If at block 1909 the user electronic device is notpaired with the player device, the process 1900 process to block 1908and the user electronic device can proceed via the companion link logic,to validate the player device to determine whether the player device isa genuine player device. For example, the user electronic device candetermine, via a device validation server, whether a device identifierof the device is valid. Alternatively, the user electronic device canvalidate a certificate or key associated with the device. If the playerdevice is authentic, the user electronic device can attempt thecompanion link pairing process, for example, as depicted in FIG. 17. Ifthe pairing process is not successful, as determined at block 1910,process 1900 can return to block 1906. If pairing is successful, process1900 can proceed to block 1912 and the user electronic device canconnect to the paired player device.

After the user electronic device connects with a paired player device atblock 1912, the user electronic device can exchange identificationtokens, as well as device, media and digital assistant information withthe connected device, as shown at block 1914. In one embodiment, theidentification tokens and device, media, and digital assistantinformation that is exchanged can include the identification tokenreceived from the digital assistant client. In one embodiment, for eachof the user electronic device and the player device, additionalinformation exchanged can include: at least one identifier, installedapplications, assigned owners, users, or delegates, registered cloudservice accounts, media content downloaded or stored at the devices,media content owned by an owner, user, or delegate of a device and/or anassociated cloud services account. In some examples, the information mayinclude a viewing history of media content on a device. For example,viewing history may include identification of a plurality of viewedmedia items, a time and date for which the user viewed the media items,a number of times the user viewed the media items. In some examples, theinformation may include media rendering capabilities of a candidatesecondary user device. In one embodiment, the media renderingcapabilities for the devices can be exchanged. For example, the playerdevices can include a smart home device such as a connected appliance ordigital assistant enabled speaker device, which may not be able torender video or may have limited video rendering capability. The mediarendering capabilities that are exchanged can indicate whether the smarthome device is capable of playing media. For smart home devices, set-topboxes or televisions that have video playback capability, the mediarendering capabilities can indicate video resolution capabilities oraspect ratio capabilities.

Computing Device for Distributed Media Playback

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a computing device 2000 for use indistributed media playback, according to an embodiment. The computingdevice 2000 can represent a user device or player device as describedherein. The computing device 2000 includes one or more speaker device(s)2001 to enable media playback. Where the computing device 2000 is asmart speaker device, the speaker device(s) 2001 may be of higherquality relative to when the computing device is implemented as a userdevice or a smart appliance. Where the computing device 2000 is atelevision or television set top box, the computing device may include adisplay interface or display device (not shown).

The computing device 2000 includes a network interface 2002 that enablesnetwork communication functionality. The network interface 2002 cancouple with one or more wireless radio(s) 2003 to enable wirelesscommunication over one or more wireless networking technologies such as,but not limited to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In some implementations, thenetwork interface 2002 may also support a wired network connection. Thecomputing device also includes a processing system 2004 having multipleprocessor devices, as well as a system memory 2010, which can be avirtual memory system having an address space that includes volatile andnon-volatile memory.

In one embodiment, the processing system 2004 includes one or moreapplication processor(s) 2005 to execute instructions for user andsystem applications that execute on the computing device 2000. Theprocessing system can also include a sensor processor to process andmonitor a suite of sensor devices 2008 having sensors including, but notlimited to motion sensors, light sensors, proximity sensors, biometricsensors, audio sensors (e.g., microphones), and image sensors (e.g.,cameras). The sensor processor 2006 can enable low-power monitoring ofalways-on sensors within the suite of sensor devices 2008. The sensorprocessor 2006 can allow the application processor(s) 2005 to remain ina low power state when the computing device 2000 is not in active usewhile allowing the computing device 2000 to remain accessible via voiceor gesture input to a digital assistant client 2020. In one embodiment,the sensor processor 2006 or a similar low power processor within theprocessing system can enable low power processing of media instructionsprovided by a media player 2025. The media player 2025 may be a modularmedia player that is capable of playback of a variety of different audioand/or video media types, including but not limited to MPEG-2, MPEG-4,H.264, and H.265/HEVC. In one embodiment, other formats may be supportedvia additional CODEC plugins. The computing device can optionallyinclude a display device (not shown) or can output video to otherdevices for display using a wireless display protocol.

The digital assistant client 2020 is the logic that executes on thecomputing device 2000 to provide the intelligent automated assistantsystem described herein. The digital assistant client 2020 can beselectively given access to various software and hardware componentswithin the computing device, including but not limited to the networkinterface 2002 to retrieve data via a network, media playbackapplications to initiate or stop playback of media files, or usercalendar data to schedule calendar events, tasks, reminders, or alarms.Where the digital assistant client 2020 executes on a smart home deviceas described herein, the digital assistant client can interact with acompanion link module 2022 to locate and connect with a companion deviceor a digital assistant client executing on the companion device in theevent a request is received to access personal domain data of a user.The companion link module 2022 is a network interface framework that isa least in part a software module that resides in system memory 2010.The companion link module 2022 can include or be associated with adaemon that executes on the processing system 2004 or library withinsystem memory 2010. The companion link module 2022 can also include orinteract with hardware or firmware logic of the computing device 2000.The companion link module 2022 can work in concert with the digitalassistant client 2020 and the distributed playback module 2012 toinitiate media playback or media streaming.

Where the computing device 2000 is within a smart speaker device capableof participating in a distributed playback system, a distributedplayback module 2012 can perform operations to manage various aspects ofmedia playback, including but not limited to a playback queue manager2014 to manage a list of media to be played via a distributed playbacksystem and a playback routing manager 2016 to route media playback tospecific elements of the distributed playback system. In one embodimentthe playback routing manager 2016 can connect with different elements ofthe distributed playback system via a connection established using thecompanion link module 2022. The companion link module 2022 canfacilitate connection establishment and message relay over a companionlink established between the speakers and devices of the distributedplayback system to perform operations such as configuring channel outputfor a multi-channel playback system or coordinating volume adjustmentsacross multiple connected speakers. In one embodiment the companion linkmodule 2022 can also perform operations to enable a media intercom overthe companion link connection between the computing device 2000 andother smart home devices.

In one embodiment, a media controller 2030 can exchange data with thedistributed playback module 2012. The data exchange can be performed inresponse to input received via a user interface of the computing device2000 or a different computing device that participates within thedistributed playback system. The data exchange can also be performed inresponse to activity requested via the digital assistant client 2020.For example, the media controller 2030 can determine to start, stop, orcontrol media playback locally via the media player 2025 or via thedistributed playback module 2012. In one embodiment, a playlist, ratherthan a single media item, can be played via the media player 2025 or thedistributed playback module 2012.

In one embodiment, the playback queue manager 2014 can manage multiplesimultaneous playback queues, where the playback queues include one ormore past, present or future media elements to be played via thecomputing device 2000. The playback queues can be loaded with individualmedia elements or playlists that specify multiple media elements. Theplayback queues can include locally stored media, media that will beretrieved for playback via a media server or media that will be streamedfrom a local or remote media streaming server. Multiple types of mediaelements may be played over the distributed playback system via theplayback queue manager, including multimedia files such, as but notlimited to music, music videos, and podcasts, including audio or videopodcasts, or audio and/or video clips of current news, weather, orsports events.

Where one or more podcasts are selected for playback in response to theoccurrence of a scheduled event, podcast selection logic can select aspecific episode of a podcast for playback, such as the latest availableepisode of a podcast or the latest available unplayed podcast. Suchselection can be determined from explicit user preferences or based onlearned user preference information. The selection can also be performedbased on the age of the available unplayed podcasts relative to thecurrent date. In one embodiment, a podcast feed contains metadata thatindicates whether the podcast feed is associated with a serial podcastor a news-style podcast. Whether to play the earliest unplayed episodeor the latest episode can be determined at least in part based on suchmetadata.

In one embodiment, for example when setting a wake alarm, a news programor news channel may be selected for playback. The user may select aspecific program or channel for playback in response to the wake alarm.Alternatively, the user can select a generic news category and logicassociated with the playback queue manager 2014 can select the newsprogram or news channel to play based on selected user preferences. Inone embodiment, a news program preference can be determined based onnews topic preferences selected in a news program on a user device.

In one embodiment, the playback routing manager 2016 can be used toselect a playback device within the distributed playback system to useto play a playback queue. Depending on the number of playback deviceswithin the distributed playback system, multiple different queues can beactive on multiple different playback devices or multiple differentplayback devices within the distributed playback system can be grouped.Grouped playback devices can share a common playback queue andsimultaneously play the same media. When a smart playback device isprovisioned, the playback device can be associated with one or moreusers and/or one or more user accounts. The smart playback device canalso be assigned a location and/or device type. In one embodiment,residential distributed playback network can be configured in whichmultiple user devices and play media via one or more smart playbackdevices within a residence. When a smart playback device is added to theresidential network, a room or location of each playback device can bespecified. An ownership can also be specified for each smart playbackdevice that indicates whether the smart playback device is associatedwith a single user or if the smart playback device is a smart homedevice that is associated with multiple users.

Exemplary Application Programming Interface Architecture

Embodiments described herein include one or more application programminginterfaces (APIs) in an environment in which calling program codeinteracts with other program code that is called through one or moreprogramming interfaces. Various function calls, messages, or other typesof invocations, which further may include various kinds of parameters,can be transferred via the APIs between the calling program and the codebeing called. In addition, an API may provide the calling program codethe ability to use data types or classes defined in the API andimplemented in the called program code.

An API allows a developer of an API-calling component (which may be athird-party developer) to leverage specified features provided by anAPI-implementing component. There may be one API-calling component orthere may be more than one such component. An API can be a source codeinterface that a computer system or program library provides in order tosupport requests for services from an application. An operating system(OS) can have multiple APIs to allow applications running on the OS tocall one or more of those APIs, and a service (such as a programlibrary) can have multiple APIs to allow an application that uses theservice to call one or more of those APIs. An API can be specified interms of a programming language that can be interpreted or compiled whenan application is built.

In some embodiments, the API-implementing component may provide morethan one API, each providing a different view of or with differentaspects that access different aspects of the functionality implementedby the API-implementing component. For example, one API of anAPI-implementing component can provide a first set of functions and canbe exposed to third party developers, and another API of theAPI-implementing component can be hidden (not exposed) and provide asubset of the first set of functions and also provide another set offunctions, such as testing or debugging functions which are not in thefirst set of functions. In other embodiments, the API-implementingcomponent may itself call one or more other components via an underlyingAPI and thus be both an API-calling component and an API-implementingcomponent.

An API defines the language and parameters that API-calling componentsuse when accessing and using specified features of the API-implementingcomponent. For example, an API-calling component accesses the specifiedfeatures of the API-implementing component through one or more API callsor invocations (embodied for example by function or method calls)exposed by the API and passes data and control information usingparameters via the API calls or invocations. The API-implementingcomponent may return a value through the API in response to an API callfrom an API-calling component. While the API defines the syntax andresult of an API call (e.g., how to invoke the API call and what the APIcall does), the API may not reveal how the API call accomplishes thefunction specified by the API call. Various API calls are transferredvia the one or more application programming interfaces between thecalling (API-calling component) and an API-implementing component.Transferring the API calls may include issuing, initiating, invoking,calling, receiving, returning, or responding to the function calls ormessages; in other words, transferring can describe actions by either ofthe API-calling component or the API-implementing component. Thefunction calls or other invocations of the API may send or receive oneor more parameters through a parameter list or other structure. Aparameter can be a constant, key, data structure, object, object class,variable, data type, pointer, array, list or a pointer to a function ormethod or another way to reference a data or other item to be passed viathe API.

Furthermore, data types or classes may be provided by the API andimplemented by the API-implementing component. Thus, the API-callingcomponent may declare variables, use pointers to, use or instantiateconstant values of such types or classes by using definitions providedin the API.

Generally, an API can be used to access a service or data provided bythe API-implementing component or to initiate performance of anoperation or computation provided by the API-implementing component. Byway of example, the API-implementing component and the API-callingcomponent may each be any one of an operating system, a library, adevice driver, an API, an application program, or other module (itshould be understood that the API-implementing component and theAPI-calling component may be the same or different type of module fromeach other). API-implementing components may in some cases be embodiedat least in part in firmware, microcode, or other hardware logic. Insome embodiments, an API may allow a client program to use the servicesprovided by a Software Development Kit (SDK) library. In otherembodiments, an application or other client program may use an APIprovided by an Application Framework. In these embodiments, theapplication or client program may incorporate calls to functions ormethods provided by the SDK and provided by the API or use data types orobjects defined in the SDK and provided by the API. An ApplicationFramework may in these embodiments provide a main event loop for aprogram that responds to various events defined by the Framework. TheAPI allows the application to specify the events and the responses tothe events using the Application Framework. In some implementations, anAPI call can report to an application the capabilities or state of ahardware device, including those related to aspects such as inputcapabilities and state, output capabilities and state, processingcapability, power state, storage capacity and state, communicationscapability, etc., and the API may be implemented in part by firmware,microcode, or other low-level logic that executes in part on thehardware component.

The API-calling component may be a local component (i.e., on the samedata processing system as the API-implementing component) or a remotecomponent (i.e., on a different data processing system from theAPI-implementing component) that communicates with the API-implementingcomponent through the API over a network. It should be understood thatan API-implementing component may also act as an API-calling component(i.e., it may make API calls to an API exposed by a differentAPI-implementing component) and an API-calling component may also act asan API-implementing component by implementing an API that is exposed toa different API-calling component.

The API may allow multiple API-calling components written in differentprogramming languages to communicate with the API-implementing component(thus the API may include features for translating calls and returnsbetween the API-implementing component and the API-calling component);however, the API may be implemented in terms of a specific programminglanguage. An API-calling component can, in one embedment, call APIs fromdifferent providers such as a set of APIs from an OS provider andanother set of APIs from a plug-in provider and another set of APIs fromanother provider (e.g. the provider of a software library) or creator ofthe another set of APIs.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating an API architecture 2100, whichmay be used in some embodiments of the invention. The API architecture2100 includes the API-implementing component 2110 (e.g., an operatingsystem, a library, a device driver, an API, an application program,software or other module) that implements the API 2120. The API 2120specifies one or more functions, methods, classes, objects, protocols,data structures, formats and/or other features of the API-implementingcomponent that may be used by the API-calling component 2130. The API2120 can specify at least one calling convention that specifies how afunction in the API-implementing component receives parameters from theAPI-calling component and how the function returns a result to theAPI-calling component. The API-calling component 2130 (e.g., anoperating system, a library, a device driver, an API, an applicationprogram, software or other module), makes API calls through the API 2120to access and use the features of the API-implementing component 2110that are specified by the API 2120. The API-implementing component 2110may return a value through the API 2120 to the API-calling component2130 in response to an API call.

It will be appreciated that the API-implementing component 2110 mayinclude additional functions, methods, classes, data structures, and/orother features that are not specified through the API 2120 and are notavailable to the API-calling component 2130. It should be understoodthat the API-calling component 2130 may be on the same system as theAPI-implementing component 2110 or may be located remotely and accessesthe API-implementing component 2110 using the API 2120 over a network.While FIG. 21 illustrates a single API-calling component 2130interacting with the API 2120, it should be understood that otherAPI-calling components, which may be written in different languages (orthe same language) than the API-calling component 2130, may use the API2120.

The API-implementing component 2110, the API 2120, and the API-callingcomponent 2130 may be stored in a machine-readable medium, whichincludes any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by amachine (e.g., a computer or other data processing system). For example,a machine-readable medium includes magnetic disks, optical disks,random-access memory; read only memory, flash memory devices, etc.

FIG. 22A-22B are block diagrams of exemplary API software stacks 2200,2210, according to embodiments. FIG. 22A shows an exemplary API softwarestack 2200 in which applications 2202 can make calls to Service A orService B using Service API and to Operating System 2204 using an OSAPI. Additionally, Service A and Service B can make calls to OperatingSystem 2204 using several OS APIs.

FIG. 22B shows an exemplary API software stack 2210 includingApplication 1, Application 2, Service 1, Service 2, and Operating System2204. As illustrated, Service 2 has two APIs, one of which (Service 2API 1) receives calls from and returns values to Application 1 and theother (Service 2 API 2) receives calls from and returns values toApplication 2. Service 1 (which can be, for example, a software library)makes calls to and receives returned values from OS API 1, and Service 2(which can be, for example, a software library) makes calls to andreceives returned values from both OS API 1 and OS API 2. Application 2makes calls to and receives returned values from OS API 2.

API for Content Playback on Multiple Devices

FIG. 23 illustrates an API 2300 for content playback on multipledevices, according to embodiments. In one embodiment a user device 1504,which is representative if any user device described herein, can includea digital assistant client 1501 as described herein and a companion linkdaemon 2302. A player device 2303 can include a media player 2304 and acompanion link daemon 2306. In one embodiment the media player can be aversion of the media player 2025 of the computing device 2000 of FIG.20. Companion link daemon 2302 and companion link daemon 2306 can eachinclude software logic associated with the companion link module 2022 ofthe computing device of FIG. 20. A digital assistant server 2308 is alsoincluded. The digital assistant server 2308 can be a version of variantof the digital assistant servers (e.g., digital assistant server 106,digital assistant server 1506) as described herein. The components,messages, and operations depicted are intended to be understood in thecontext of the components, messages, and operations depicted in FIG.8A-8G

In one embodiment the digital assistant client 1501 can sendidentification data 2311 to the companion link daemon 2302, such as anidentification token that is used to identify the digital assistantclient 1501 at the user device 1504. In one embodiment when the userdevice 1504 joins (2312) a network, or otherwise become able to connectto other devices (e.g., via a direct wireless connection), the userdevice can discover (2322) a player device. The discovered player devicecan be added to a set of player devices that have been discovered viathe network. The companion link daemon 2302 on the user device 1504 cansynchronize information (2323) with the companion link daemon 2306 onthe player device 2303. The synchronized information can includecompanion link data, digital assistant client data, and information onmedia that is available to the user device 1504 and the player device2303. For example, the digital assistant client 1501 on the user device1504 can be made aware of the media items are that are stored on oraccessible to the player device 2303 (2325). Likewise, the media player2304 on the player device 2303 may be made aware of the media items thatare stored on or accessible to the player device 2303 via the userdevice 1504. Synchronized information can include data described withrespect to block 1914 of the process 1900 depicted in FIG. 19. In oneembodiment, synchronized information can also include whether the userdevice 1504 or the player device 2303 is associated with an onlineaccount having membership in one or more music streaming services. Thesynchronization of information (2323) between the companion link daemonscan enable the user device 1504 and player device 2303 to prepare torespond to a user request to play media on a specific device.

When the digital assistant client 1501 at the user device 1504 receivesa playback request (2331) for a specified player device, the digitalassistant client 1501 can send request information (2333) to the digitalassistant server. The playback request can include a requested mediaitem to be played on a requested media player, or can include a naturallanguage request that can be resolved by the digital assistant client1501 and/or the digital assistant server 2308 (e.g., ‘this’ media item,‘that’ player device). The request information (2333) sent to thedigital assistant server can include the requested media item andplayback target. In addition to a media item and target, the requestinformation (2333) can also include a directory service identifier(DSID), which is a unique or quasi-unique identifier associated with anaccount. One or more DSIDs can be sent, for example, if the user device1504 and the player device 2303 are associated with different accounts.In one embodiment, the accounts can be associated with an online useraccount server 1536 of FIG. 15. The one or more DSIDs can allow thedigital assistant server 2308 to determine a list of media items thatmay be accessible to the user device 1504 and/or the player device 2303.The request information (2333) can also include one or more encryptionkey hashes to enable the digital assistant server 2308 to lookup andaccess encryption keys for online user data that the digital assistantserver access when resolving the playback request. The requestinformation (2333) can also include a list or a reference to a list ofmedia items stored on the user device 1504 and the player device 2303.

In one embodiment, the digital assistant server 2308 can correlate arequested media item with the set of media items (movies, songs, etc.)that are available from multiple sources and returns a list of mediaitems that are available to be played. The multiple sources can includebut are not limited to online streaming services, an online mediaserver, as well as media items that are stored locally on the userdevice 1504 and player device 2303. In one embodiment the multiplesources can include an application that is installed on the user device1504 and/or the player device 2303. While determining the set ofavailable media items, the digital assistant server 2308 can communicatewith one or more other servers or server clusters, including serversassociated with online user accounts of the user device 1504 and theplayer device 2303.

To generate the list of media items that are available to be played, thedigital assistant server 2308 can aggregate, de-duplicate, and filterthe list of media items from the multiple sources. For example, mediaitems from the available sources can be combined into a single list,duplicates with the list can be removed, and the media items can befiltered based on user, account, or device data. For example, a user ata parent account of a family of cloud services accounts can limit thetype of media that is accessible to child accounts. Media items can alsobe filtered based on the type or encoding of the media items and theplayback capabilities of the user device 1504 and the player device2303.

Once one or more correlating media items and player targets are resolvedat the digital assistant server 2308, the digital assistant server cansend a response (2338) to the request to the digital assistant client1501 at the user device 1504. Any uncertainties can be resolved asdepicted in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. Once a media item and player target aredetermined, the digital assistant client 1501 can then send a playrequest (2341) to the companion link daemon 2302 on the user device1504. The companion link daemon 2302 on the user device 1504 can thensend a play request (2343) to the companion link daemon 2306 on theplayer device 2303 that is identified by the playback request. Thecompanion link daemon 2306 on the player device 2303 can send a playrequest (2346) to the media player 2304 of the player device 2303, whichcan then play the requested content (2354).

A scenario may arise in which a selected player may not be able todirectly play the requested content. In such scenarios, it may bepossible to stream the content from the user device 1504 or anotherplayer device.

FIG. 24 illustrates an API 2400 initiate streaming of content betweenmultiple devices, according to an embodiment. In one embodiment, API2400 is similar to API 2300 of FIG. 23, with the addition of logic for amedia streamer 2402 on the user device 1504 and a media streamer 2404 onthe player device 2303. In various embodiments, the media streamer logiccan be a daemon that executes on the user device 1504 and player device2303 or a library stored in memory of the respective devices. In oneembodiment the media streamer 2404 on the user device 1504 can beconfigured to broadcast media content, while the media streamer 2404 onthe player device 2303 can be configured to broadcast and receive mediacontent. Media streamer 2402 and media streamer 2404 can be associatedwith one or more media streaming protocols, such as but not limitedAirPlay or AirPlay 2, as supported by devices provided by Apple Inc. ofCupertino Calif. The media streamers can also be associated with otherstreaming methods, such as but not limited to Miracast, or digitalliving network alliance (DLNA). As specified by API 2400, the digitalassistant client 1501 can send a play request (2441) to the mediastreamer 2402 on the user device 1504. The media streamer 2402 can thensend a play request (2443) to the media streamer 2404 of the playerdevice 2303. The media streamer 2404 on the player device can then playa stream of the requested content (2454) on the player device. Adetermination of whether to request the player device 2303 to directlyplay the requested content or to play a stream of the requested contentcan be determined, in one embodiment, based on information in theresponse (2438) sent by the digital assistant server, which can indicatewhich media items are available on which devices.

In one embodiment, streaming the requested content can include mirroringa display of the user device 1504. For example, a user may be playingvideo or audio from a website and may wish to mirror the contentdisplayed on the user device 1504 to a television or a television settop box. To enable streaming, media streamer 2402 and media streamer2404 can perform any digital rights management (DRM) negotiation that isneeded to play the requested content, which can include requestinghigher level software logic of the user device 1504 or the player device2303 to prompt a user to log into one or more online accounts.

To stream a video media item or mirror a display of the user device1504, the user device can decode and render frames of the decoded mediaitem or a render the framebuffers that are to be displayed on the userdevice 1504. A frame can include pixel data describing the pixelsincluded in the frame (e.g. in terms of various color spaces, such asRGB or YCrCb), and may also include metadata such as an alpha value forblending. The user device 1504 can encode a frame into a format that isknown to the player device 2303 and transmit, via a network interface,the encoded frame to the player device. The player device can decode theencoded frame and present the frame on a display of the player device2303. A similar process can occur for audio data of the video media itemand for pure audio data (e.g., music streaming). Audio data can beencoded and transmitted by the user device 1504 for decode and playbackvia speakers of the player device. Techniques for display mirroring areprovided in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/413,328,“System and Method for Display Mirroring,” filed Jan. 23, 2017, U.S.Pat. No. 10,031,712, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

FIG. 25 illustrates logic 2500 to select between streaming and directplayback, according to an embodiment. Logic 2500 can be performed byhardware and software logic of a user device and one or more playerdevices when determining how to play a requested media item at arequested player device. The hardware and software logic can include, inone embodiment, a digital assistant client and companion link module asdescribed herein.

In one embodiment, as shown at block 2502, a digital assistant client ata user device can receive a response to a request sent to a digitalassistant server, where the response includes a list of one or moremedia items and one or more player devices associated with the one ormore media items. At block 2504, the digital assistant client candetermine a set of media items that are available for direct playback ata requested player device. If direct playback is allowed, as determinedat block 2505, the digital assistant client can send a message to therequested player device at block 2506. The message can include a commandto play the requested media item at the player device. If directplayback is not allowed, logic 2500 can perform operations to stream amedia item to the player device from another device. The media item canbe streamed from the user device to the player device or from anotherplayer device that has access to the requested media item. For example,a song that is stored locally on a digital assistant enabled smartspeaker device can be streamed to a smart television or television settop box that does not have the ability to play the song directly. In oneembodiment, the streaming at block 2508 can include mirroring contentdisplayed on the user device to the requested player device, forexample, if the user intends to play audio or video that is currentlybeing played via a website or a third-party application.

In one embodiment, if direct or streaming playback of content can beenabled at a player device by downloading software from an applicationserver or an application store (e.g., App store), the digital assistantclient can offer to install the software on the player.

FIG. 26 illustrates logic 2600 to enable the download of software tofacilitate playback of a requested media item, according to anembodiment. Logic 2500 can be performed by hardware and software logicof a user device and a player device. The hardware and software logiccan include, in one embodiment, a digital assistant client and companionlink module as described herein.

In one embodiment, a digital assistant client on a user device canreceive a request to play a media item, as shown at block 2602. Playbackof the media item may use or be enabled by downloadable software, suchas a media CODEC, media player, or application. The digital assistantclient, at block 2604, can determine if the downloadable software ispresent on the player device associated with the request. The digitalassistant can determine whether the software is present on the playerbased a list of installed software received from the player during aninformation synchronization phase, as depicted at block 1914 of FIG. 19and synchronization information 2323 of FIG. 23-24.

If, as determined at block 2605, the software is present on the player,the digital assistant client can send a message to the requested playerdevice at block 2606. The message can include a command to play therequested media item via the downloadable software. For example, thedigital assistant client can send a message to initiate playback of amedia item via a specific media player or via a specific application,such as a media streaming application.

If, at block 2605, the digital assistant client determines that thesoftware is not present on the player, the digital assistant client canoffer to download and install the software on the player device, asshown at block 2608. If the offer is accepted or approved by a user thatis authorized to perform software downloads, the digital assistantclient can facilitate the download and install of the downloadablesoftware at the player device, as shown at block 2610. The digitalassistant client can then send a message to the requested player device,as shown at block 2606.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the techniques and their practical applications. Othersskilled in the art are thereby enabled to best utilize the techniquesand various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Although the disclosure and examples have been fully described withreference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that variouschanges and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in theart. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as beingincluded within the scope of the disclosure and examples as defined bythe claims.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is thegathering and use of data available from various sources to improvefacilitating playback of media content on a secondary user device. Thepresent disclosure contemplates that in some instances, this gathereddata may include personal information data that uniquely identifies orcan be used to contact or locate a specific person. Such personalinformation data can include demographic data, location-based data,telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter IDs, home addresses, data orrecords relating to a user's health or level of fitness (e.g., vitalsigns measurements, medication information, exercise information), dateof birth, or any other identifying or personal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personalinformation data, in the present technology, can be used to the benefitof users. For example, the personal information data can be used toidentify different devices that the user has previously interacted with,such as televisions, set top boxes, or voice activated speaker systems.Accordingly, use of such personal information data enables delivery ofcontent to devices that the user frequently engages with. Further, otheruses for personal information data that benefit the user are alsocontemplated by the present disclosure. For instance, health and fitnessdata may be used to provide insights into a user's general wellness, ormay be used as positive feedback to individuals using technology topursue wellness goals.

The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities shouldimplement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining personal information data private andsecure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and shouldbe updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personalinformation from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonableuses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimateuses. Further, such collection/sharing should occur after receiving theinformed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities shouldconsider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access tosuch personal information data and ensuring that others with access tothe personal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the US,collection of or access to certain health data may be governed byfederal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA); whereas health data in other countries maybe subject to other regulations and policies and should be handledaccordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained fordifferent personal data types in each country.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, in the caseof playing media content on a secondary user device, the presenttechnology can be configured to allow users to select to “opt in” or“opt out” of participation in the collection of personal informationdata during registration for services or anytime thereafter. In anotherexample, users can select not to provide information regarding secondaryuser devices on which to play content. In yet another example, users canselect to only “opt in” for certain secondary user devices, and “optout” of other secondary devices for playing media content. In additionto providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, the present disclosurecontemplates providing notifications relating to the access or use ofpersonal information. For instance, a user may be notified uponproviding a request for playing media content on a secondary device,where the notification indicates that personal information will beaccessed. The user may be reminded again just before personalinformation data is accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth,etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g.,collecting location data at a city level rather than at an addresslevel), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data acrossusers), and/or other methods.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data. For example, secondary userdevices may be identified based on non-personal information data or abare minimum amount of personal information, such as the content beingrequested by the device associated with a user, other non-personalinformation available to the media playback system, or publiclyavailable information.

In the foregoing description, example embodiments of the disclosure havebeen described. It will be evident that various modifications can bemade thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of thedisclosure. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense. Thespecifics in the descriptions and examples provided may be used anywherein one or more embodiments. The various features of the differentembodiments or examples may be variously combined with some featuresincluded and others excluded to suit a variety of differentapplications. Examples may include subject matter such as a method,means for performing acts of the method, at least one machine-readablemedium including instructions that, when performed by a machine causethe machine to perform acts of the method, or of an apparatus or systemaccording to embodiments and examples described herein. Additionally,various components described herein can be a means for performing theoperations or functions described herein.

One embodiment provides for an electronic device, comprising a datainterface, a memory to store instructions, and one or more processors toexecute the instructions, wherein the instructions cause the one or moreprocessors to receive information associated with media playback,receive a request for playback of a media item, resolve a media item andplayer device for the request based on a set of available media itemsand player devices, and transmit, via the data interface, a request toplay the media item at the player device. Resolving the media item andplayer device can include determining a network location for a devicestoring the media items, a streamable status of the media items (e.g.,from a local device or cloud streaming service), and resolving a networklocation for the player device based on an identifier or physicallocation associated with the player device.

One embodiment provides for a method comprising, at an electronic devicewith one or more processors and memory, receiving information associatedwith media playback, receiving a request for playback of a media item,resolving a media item and player device for the request based on a setof available media items and player devices, and transmitting, via adata interface, a request to play the media item at the player device.

One embodiment provides for a non-transitory machine-readable mediumstoring instructions to cause one or more processors of an electronicdevice to perform operations comprising detecting a player device via adata interface of the electronic device, the player device detected on anetwork accessible to the electronic device, automatically attempting toconnect with the player device upon detection of the player device, andexchanging data with the player device, wherein data exchanged with theplayer device includes a first list of media items accessible to theelectronic device and a second list of media items accessible to theplayer device. The player device can then be added to a set of availableplayer devices on the network. Upon subsequent receipt of a request forplayback of a media item, the instructions can cause the electronicdevice to resolve a media item for the request based on the first listof media items and the second list of media item. The electronic devicecan resolve a player device for use in playback of the media item forthe request based on the set of available player devices on the network,such as, for example, the rendering capabilities (e.g., audio, video,etc.) of the available player devices. The electronic device can thentransmit, via a data interface, a request to play the media item at aresolved player device.

Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description above.Accordingly, the true scope of the embodiments will become apparent tothe skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification,and following claims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. An electronic device, comprising: a memory; and atleast one processor configured to: determine a list of plurality ofsecondary user devices available for establishing a communicationsession with the electronic device via a local network; establish, inresponse to a user selection corresponding to the list of the pluralityof secondary user devices, a companion link with at least one userselected secondary user device of the plurality of secondary userdevices; and transmit a media request to a media server, the mediarequest comprising an instruction for media playback on the at least onesecondary user devices.
 22. The electronic device of claim 21, whereinthe at least one processor is configured to determine the list of theplurality of secondary user devices based at least in part on mediarendering capabilities of candidate secondary user devices connected tothe local network.
 23. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to: receive, upon determiningthe list of the plurality of secondary user devices, identifierinformation associated with each of the plurality of secondary userdevices; and cause the electronic device to output the identifierinformation associated with each of the plurality of secondary userdevices.
 24. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein media requestcomprises a first media request corresponding to a first secondary userdevice of the at least one user selected secondary device and a secondmedia request corresponding to a second secondary user device of the atleast one user selected secondary user device.
 25. The electronic deviceof claim 21, wherein the instruction for media playback on the at leastone user selected secondary user devices comprises a media identifier,the at least one processor is further configured to: determine, based onthe media identifier, whether access to a requested media item is to beobtained by a user in order to commence playback of the requested mediaitem.
 26. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the user selectionis received via a speech input.
 27. The electronic device of claim 21,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: classify,in response to a user input, the at least one user selected secondaryuser devices into a group, wherein the media request comprises aninstruction for synchronous media playback of a common media playbackqueue on each of the at least one user selected secondary user deviceswithin the group.
 28. A method comprising: determining, by an electronicdevice, that a communication session is to be established with a secondelectronic device over a companion link; attempting a discovery of thesecond electronic device via a local network; upon discovering thesecond electronic device on the local network, establishing a connectionwith the second electronic device over the local network; verifyingestablishing of connection with the second electronic device; and uponverifying of the establishing of connection, establishing a verifiedcompanion link session with the second electronic device, wherein thecompanion link is a transport agnostic communication link for device todevice connection over a common network connection.
 29. The method ofclaim 28, wherein the communication session is to be established atdevice initialization of the electronic device, the communication is tobe established to re-establish a connection that has been disconnected,or the communication session is to be established to re-establish aconnection that has timed-out due to non-use.
 30. The method of claim29, further comprising: in response to failing to discover the secondelectronic device, determining whether a remote identifier is available;and upon determining that the remote identifier is available,establishing a remote connection with the second electronic device. 31.The method of claim 30, wherein the remote identifier comprises at leastone of: a digital assistant identifier associated with a digitalassistant client on the second electronic device, an identifier tokenestablished via registration with an online user account server, or arelay identifier associated with a relay server.
 32. The method of claim31, further comprising: requiring the electronic device to demonstratepossession of a long-term private key corresponding to a long-termpublic key that was exchanged during pair setup.
 33. The method of claim32, further comprising: establishing a shared secret or a session key.34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: encryptingcommunications occurring through the verified companion link sessionusing the shared secret or the session key.
 35. A non-transitorymachine-readable medium storing instructions to cause one or moreprocessors of an electronic device to perform operations comprising:determining that a communication session is to be established with asecond electronic device over a companion link; attempting a discoveryof the second electronic device via a local network; upon discovery ofthe second electronic device on the local network, establishing aconnection with the second electronic device over the local network;verifying establishing of connection with the second electronic device;and upon verifying of the establishing of connection, establishing averified companion link session with the second electronic device,wherein the companion link is a transport agnostic communication linkfor device to device connection over a common network connection. 36.The non-transitory machine-readable medium of 35, wherein thecommunication session is to be established at device initialization ofthe electronic device, the communication session is to be established tore-establish a connection that has been disconnected, or thecommunication session is to be established to re-establish a connectionthat has timed-out due to non-use.
 37. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the operations furthercomprise: in response to a failure to discover the second electronicdevice, determining whether a remote identifier is available; and upondetermining that the remote identifier is available, establish a remoteconnection with the second electronic device.
 38. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the remote identifiercomprises at least one of: a digital assistant identifier associatedwith a digital assistant client on the second electronic device, anidentifier token established via registration with an online useraccount server, or a relay identifier associated with a relay server.39. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 35, wherein theoperations further comprise: requiring the electronic device and thesecond electronic device to demonstrate possession of a long-termprivate key corresponding to a long-term public key that was exchangedduring pair setup.
 40. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 39, the operations further comprise: encrypting communicationsoccurring through the verified companion link session using a sharedsecret or a session key.